LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



Chap. Copyright No..... 

Shcli'__:___.l. Ck S" 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 




\V \MII \«. I ON F.l.M. 



THE CAMBRIDGE OF EIGHTEEN 
HUNDRED AND NINETY-SIX 

A PICTURE OF 

THE CITY AND ITS INDUSTRIES 

FIFTY YEARS AFTER ITS 

INCORPORATION 



DONE BT DIVERS HANDS 

AND EDITED BY 

ARTHUR GILMAN, A.M. 

EDITOR OP "THE CAMBRIDGE OP 17"6 " 



UNDER THE DIRECTION OF A COMMITTEE OF THE CITY 
GOVERNMENT AND CITIZENS 

L. C- 



There may be fairer spots of earth, 
But all their glories are not worth 
The virtue of the native sod. 

James Russell Lowell. 




XJYY*r\-^H 



CAMBRIDGE 

IJDrmtcD at ttje Kitocrstoe pre** 



1896 



At a meeting- of the Citizens' Trade Association, held December 
20, L895, the President. Id. 0. Houghton, in the chair, on motion of 
George Howland Cox. it was 

Voted: That a committee, consisting of the president of this Asso- 
ciation and four of its members (to be appointed by the chair), be 
requested to confer with the citizens" committee upon the expediency 
of collecting statistics in relation to the City of Cambridge, showing 
its advantages as a place of residence and for the establishment of 
business, and any and all knowledge, the promulgation of which would 
prove beneficial ti> the growth and general welfare of the city ; the 
same to be published in an illustrated form and distributed through- 
out the country as the wisdom of the committee may determine. 



COMMITTEE ON THE MEMORIAL VOLUME. 

George Holland Cox, Chairman. 
Councilman Albert S. Apsey, Clerk. 

Alderman Russell Bradford. Rev. John O'Brien. 

Councilman David W. Bctterfield. John Hopewell, Jr. 
Justin Winsor. Chester W. Kingsley. 



Copyright, 189G, 
By GEORGE HOWLAND COX. 






PREFACE. 



The pages now in the hands of the reader are the fruit of 
those sentiments of municipal pride which demand some per- 
manent record of the good traits of a city loved. Patriotism 
is strongly developed in America, but the spirit of devotion to 
the city of one's birth or choice is in need of stimulation. It 
is possible for a child to grow up a patriot without a real 
appreciation of those duties that arise from his living among 
throngs of people. The independence of country life is con- 
sistent with a selfishness that is quite out of place in a city. 
In the crowded town, every man, woman, and child must con- 
sider his neighbors. Not one of them can have his own water- 
supply, for example, and manage it independently. The 
drainage of his estate must be controlled by the convenience of 
those about him. He may not locate his dwelling, even, without 
consideration of the dwellings of others, and of his relations to 
his neighbors. In the days of our forefathers in America, men 
lived in the country, and the cities were small. Now the resi- 
dents of cities constitute the greater portion of the inhabitants 
of our State and Nation. 

Such are some of the reasons why it is necessary in these 
days to lay deep the foundations of love of city, as distin- 
guished from that love of country which has dominated all true 
Americans since the moment that Winthrop first set foot on 
the shores of Newe Towne, or that other notable day when 
Washington drew his sword under the ancient Tree on the 
Common. Our city fortunately has a history which can be 
dwelt upon with satisfaction. The Cambridge of eighteen 
hundred and ninety-six is quite as well worth our thought and 
admiration as the infant Cambridge that boasted a Winthrop 
and a Shepard. 

The present publication has another reason than these for its 



iv PREFACE. 

being. The civic pride which leads us to linger over the story 
of the lives of our worthy ancestors inclines us no less strongly 
to place on record, for the benefit of our descendants, a picture 
of the city that we know. What is the Cambridge of 1896 
doing, and what message has it for posterity ? Prophecy has a 
powerful influence in bringing its own fulfillment to pass ; and 
depicting the good traits of a man or of a city may have a 
similar tendency in emphasizing the best, and in making it 
permanent. If the Cambridge of our day is worthy because it 
is the centre of important manufactures ; if it holds up to the 
world any principles of education, or if it is stamped by the 
mark of a method of civic management that may be called 
" The Cambridge Idea," we may be sure that it is worth our 
while to put down on paper and preserve for our children an 
account of it all. 

The chapters of this book may be considered monographs. 
Various loving hands have described those features which they 
in their intimate acquaintance with the different matters have 
thought best. They have left to the Editor the agreeable task 
of making for them the bow that good manners demand. The 
Editor wishes to disclaim the honor of planning the book, and 
the much more serious labor of selecting the writers and gather- 
ing the papers. Those duties have fallen to the Chairman of 
the Committee. With what success they have been performed, 
the reader will judge. It is not for a Cambridge man to say 
that it is seldom possible to convene such an assemblage of 
writers from the citizenship of a single city. 

The interest in this volume has not by any means been con- 
fined to Cambridge. When " The Cambridge of 1776 " was 
prepared by the present Editor, Mr. Howells, at that time 
editor of " The Atlantic," made a graceful contribution, and 
when he was offered the opportunity to repeat his good deed, he 
expressed himself as filled with such admiration of the place of 
his former abode that he would like to write the whole book 
himself ! Here are his words : — 

" If I had only had the time, I should have liked to write the whole 
book myself. For one who was not born in Cambridge I believe that 
I am a most impassioned and inexpatriable (allow me !) citizen of the 
place. It is nearly twenty years since I lived there, but I have never 



PREFACE. v 

wholly been away from it, and in my reveries by day, and my dreams 
by night, I am still a dweller there. Lowell still comes to the door 
of my little carpenter's box on Sacramento Street, and asks me to 
walk with him over the vacant fields which you fancy are covered with 
houses. In my errands to the University Press, I meet Agassiz going 
and coming near the Museum ; I come out in the Garden Street car 
with Richard Henry Dana ; sometimes the weird presence of Forceythe 
Willson encounters me on Mount Auburn Street. I often find Long- 
fellow in his library at Craigie House, where he was always so patient 
of intrusion, and the whole circle of the simple great men of the past 
suffers my youthful inadequacy at his round table. 

" I know that there is a superstition that these men are dead, but I 
cannot think of any who are so much alive. I rather feel that I am 
the ghost when I am in their company, and there is an actual Cam- 
bridge which is not half so real as the Cambridge I used to know, and 
hope to know again when I go back to the house that I built. That 
Cambridge is one of the famous towns of all times, and can no more 
pass away than Athens or Florence. I hope your book will help to 
repopulate it. We who have never ceased to live there are always 
glad of newcomers, if they are people of taste and cultivation, as your 
readers must be." 

The good-will did not end, however, with this distinguished 
author. Among others, Mr. George Coffin Little, sou of Mr. 
Charles C. Little, who was one of the selectmen under the 
town government, elsewhere mentioned in the book, showed his 
interest. He sent from France, where he has long lived, many 
interesting reminiscences, which arrived, unfortunately, too late 
for use, though they will doubtless see light in another place. 
Mr. Little was born in the " new home " that his father had 
just built on the corner of Holyoke and Winthrop streets, 
where he had as neighbors, " Mr. Folsom, the college printer, 
afterwards the well-known librarian of the Boston Athenaeum ; 
Dr. Harris, the college librarian ; Mr. Dana, the cashier of the 
Charles River Bank ; and last, but not least, the Eev. Dr. Albro, 
the friend of all, universally beloved." It would be pleasant 
to follow Mr. Little through his recollections of the early Com- 
mencements of Harvard College, when the Square took on the 
appearance of a country fair ; of " Miss Jennison's school," on 
Garden Street, under the shade of the Washington Elm, which 
he attended ; of the other school on Garden Street, near Christ 



vi PREFACE. 

Church, kept by " Mr. G. ; " of Mr. Wells's school, with the 
discipline that he thought in his earlier clays " severe ; " of 
still another school on Dana Hill, kept by Mr. E. B. Whitman, 
" who never could be induced to write with a steel pen," nor 
keep school without " a rod or ruler," for discipline's sake ; of 
Colonel Brackett, the butcher, and the eccentric but favorite 
George Francis Train ; of James Russell Lowell, " in his 
youthful beauty ; " of the brothers Bird, above Elm wood, and 
their singing-school. All of this we must pass on to the editor 
of " The Cambridge of 1946," with our compliments. 

There is one other friend of Cambridge who can never be 
forgotten when its attractions are celebrated. Mr. John Holmes, 
mentioned several times in the present volume, still lives among 
us ; and he, too, has been moved to make a contribution to the 
book. The following lines, sent to the Editor without title, will 
serve as a prologue. The Editor has ventured to give them a 
heading in keeping with the ancient style that Mr. Holmes has 
adopted : — 

A BALLADE OF OLD CAMBRIDGE 

Showing how the Stranger found his Way about the renowned 
Village, and how an empty Sentry-Box affrighted a little 
Maiden. 

by J. H. 

The old time Cambridge had 110 book 

Of color blue and gold, 
Which to a searcher in the town 

His right direction told. 

No names or numbers then of streets 

Were to the people known ; 
Each to the questioner showed the way, 

By methods of his own. 

" Far as Miss Jarvis' go," says one, 
" Then to your left hand look, 
And there a yellow house you '11 see, 
And there lives Mr. Cook." 

A stranger to a native says, 

" I pray you tell to me, 
If it so be that you should know, 

Where Palmer's store may be." 



PREFACE. vii 

" You straight along by Maclntire's, 
Far as the hay-scales go, 
And then a building white you see 
For Palmer's store you '11 know." 

" But where is Maclntire's ? " he says. 

" The Court-house next below." 
" But where the Court-house is? " he says, 

" For that I do not know." 

" The Court-house — you don't know — but stay, 
I '11 tell you what to do, 
Just ask in Farwell's shop the way, 
And they '11 show it to you." 

" What ! Farwell's you don't know, 
And good Miss Catharine Stone? 
Well, then, I '11 tell you, you ought not 
To go about alone. 

" You 're the first man I ever saw, 
That Farwell's did n't know, 
And everybody else, I 'm sure, 
Would also tell you so." 



Now, reader, for a little walk, 
Perhaps with me you '11 go, 

And ancient landmarks by the way 
Our progress on shall show. 

Now Concord turnpike, we all know, 
Doth o'er the Common stretch ; 

We walk on that till us it doth 
To an old elm-tree fetch. 

This elm now old and shattered stands, 

As we may plainly see, 
Upon the road which upward leads 

Unto Menotomy. 

Now down along this road we go, 

Unto the burying ground, 
Which by a mossy old board fence 

Is circled all around. 



Vlll 



PRE FA CE. 

Next Reemie's barber shop we pass, 

Close to the burial ground, 
And from it issues to the ear 

A squawking parrot sound. 

Next pass we Captain Stimson's house, 

A stout and loyal man, 
And thence it was that in our time 

The college wood-cart ran. 

Next comes the den, — a lonely house, 

Of superstitious name, 
Although to it no proper ghost 

Is credited by fame. 

Now down in town we fairly come, 
And here the Law School stands, 

Where busy students use their heads, 
As other men their hands. 

In summer time the students few 

Would sit upon the fence, 
And this, perhaps, was studying law, 

But not in legal sense. 

The court-house and the market-house 

We leave on either hand, 
And safe arrived we comfortably 

At Farwell's corner stand. 

Suppose that now we Brightonward 

A little onward go, 
That I to you a place or two 

For you to note may show. 

And here we come to Warland's shop, 
'T was here in seventy-five 

That little Joe, the 'prentice boy, 
From war escaped alive. 

From upper window little Joe 

With curious peeping eye 
Lord Percy and his thousand saw 

With drum and fife march by. 

Then he unto himself did say, 
And fearfully did quake, 



PREFACE. ix 

" These soldiers come with fife and drum 
My precious life to take." 

Then down the cellar quick he dived 

And all concealed lay, 
And thus to tell me he survived, 

What I tell you to-day. 

Now Porter's on the right we pass, 

That old established inn 
Where solid comfort very much, 

And liquid too, hath heen. 

And in his office, on the left, 

There sits our man of law, 
In any kind of document 

Prepared to find a flaw. 

And next to him old Jacob Smith 

Hangs out a Golden Shoe, 
Which truly 't was a costly thing 

For Jacob Smith to do. 

And now we at the corner stand 

Of the Old Market-place ; 
The Boston road doth lie behind 

And Watertown we face. 

At the next corner stood a house 

Which we remember well, 
And in it dwelt the little maid 

Of whom I am to tell. 

Here lived a doctor, at the time 

When rose contention hot 
'Twixt those who liked things as they were 

And those who liked them not. 

The doctor was a Tory called, 

And when the war began 
He was, with soldiers in his house, 

A sore afflicted man. 

At every place about the house 

A sentinel was set, 
A fearful man to look upon 

With gun and bagonett. 



PREFACE. 

And even at the very well 

Whoe'er would water draw 
The countersign must duly give, 

Or bide by martial law. 

The doctor had a little girl, 

A- maid of seven or eight, 
On whom these dreadful soldier men 

Had made impression great. 

To the stern sentry she scarce dared 

To raise a fearful eye, 
And always as she passed she made 

A reverent curtesy. 

The war passed on, — the troops had gone 

Unto another place, 
And now our little maiden skipped 

And ran her natural pace. 

Now so it was our little maid 

Was on an errand sent 
A little way down Charlestown road, 

And trippingly she went. 

But presently, at her right hand, 

She saw by twilight dim 
A dreaded sentry-box to stand, 

All soldier-like and grim. 

Hard beat our little maiden's heart, 

And suddenly she stopped, 
And to the empty sentry-box 

A little curtesy dropped. 



THE GENESIS OF THE CELEBRATION. 

The movement for a proper celebration of the completion of 
fifty years of the corporate life of Cambridge originated in the 
Citizens' Trade Association. The following extract is made 
from the record of the meeting of the Association held on June 
19, 1895. 

" The committee on public affairs reported the following resolutions, 
which were adopted. 

" Whereas, the City of Cambridge, settled in 1630 and incorporated in 
1846, will, in the next few months, round out the first fifty years of its 
corporate existence, 

"Resolved, That it is the sentiment of this Association that there should 
be a public observance of the semi-centennial anniversary of the incorpora- 
tion of the City of Cambridge, during the month of March, 1896 ; and be 
it further 

"Resolved, That a committee of five members of this Association, includ- 
ing the president, be appointed by the president of the Association for the 
purpose of calling a public meeting, at which a general citizens' committee 
may be appointed to take charge of the arrangements for the anniversary 
celebration ; and be it further 

" Resolved, That the city council be requested to appoint a committee to 
cooperate with the citizens' committee, that the celebration may be wide in 
its scope and representative in its character." 

The president appointed Messrs. J. J. Kelley, George H. 
Cox, Dr. Charles Bullock, and John Hopewell, Jr., as the other 
members of the committee. 

A public meeting was called, a citizens' committee appointed, 
and a communication sent to the city council. 

From the records of the city council. 

Ordered, That a joint special committee be appointed to cooperate with a 
committee of citizens appointed at a public meeting, for the purpose of 
making arrangements for a suitable public observance of the fiftieth anni- 
versary of the incorporation of the City of Cambridge, during the month of 
March, 1S96. 



xii THE GENESIS OF THE CELEBRATION. 

Said committee to consist of one alderman and two members of the com- 
mon council from each ward, including the president of each board ; also, 
that His Honor the Mayor be requested to act with the committee. 

Adopted, and Aldermen Keith, Wood, Bradford, and Rourke, and the 
president appointed on the part of this board. 

Sent down for concurrence. 
Concurred, October 15, 1895. 

Councilmen Reid, Beedle, Davis, Odiorne, Ahem, Willard, Allen, 
Whitmore, Parry, and Apsey appointed. 

October 16, 1895. Approved. 

To the Joint Special Committee on Anniversary Celebration. 

Communication from the Mayor transmitting one from the president of 

the citizens' committee on the proposed anniversary celebration. 

Sent down for concurrence. 
Concurred, October 29, 1895. 

Ordered, By authority of Chapter 166 of the Legislative Acts of the 
year 1892, that the sum of five thousand dollars ($5,000) be and hereby is 
appropriated for the purpose of the proper observance of the fiftieth anni- 
versary of the incorporation of the city. The sum so appropriated to be 
included in the annual estimate for incidental expenses for the current year, 
when the same shall be made. 

Adopted by a yea and nay vote as follows : — 

Yea, Aldermen Bleiler, Bradford, Conant, Cutter, Keith, Stearns, White, 
Wood, and Mr. President. 

Nay, none. Aldermen Douglass and Rourke absent. 

Sent down for concurrence. 

Concurred, January 6, 1896. January 7, 1S96. Approved. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGB 

The Beginnings of Cambridge. By John Fiske, Litt. D., LL. D . . . 1 
Why the site of Cambridge was chosen, 1. — What the Rev. John Norton 
thought Virgil might have done, 2. — The limits of the Common, 3. — 
The English method followed, 4. — The " pallysadoe," 5. — Hookers 
removal, 6. — Mr. Wilson climbs a tree in 1637, 7. — Harvard College 
founded, 8. — Watertown, Arlington, and Brighton, 9. — Heresy feared, 
10. — The Regicides in Cambridge, 11. — Mr. Henry Dunster's heresy, 
12. — Whitefield preaches on the Common, 13. 

Cambridge Town, 1750-1846. By Andrew McFarland Davis 14 

Limits of the town, 14. — The Common the centre, 16. — Distribution 
of the population, 17. — Burning of Harvard Hall in 1764, 18. — The 
Stamp Act, 19. — Boston Massacre, 20. — A full town meeting acts on the 
Tea Tax, 21. — A crowd at the court-house in 1774,23. — Lieutenant- 
Governor Oliver intimidated, 24. — The first " Patriot's Day," 26. — A 
declaration of independence, 27. — Bnrgoyne's troops in Cambridge, 28. 
— New bridges to Boston, 29. — Inclosing the Common, 31. — Growth 
of the town, 32. ■ — Manufactures begin, 33. — Ecclesiastical history, 34. 

Life in Cambridge Town. By Thomas Wentworth Higginson .... 35 
Lowell and John Holmes describe the olden time, 35; An " Exhibition" 
in 1840, 37.— Morse's "hourly," 38. — The College in 1846, 38.— 
Decrease of the drinking habit, 39. 

The Gambrel-Roofed House. By Oliver Wendell Holmes 43 

The Red Republic of Letters, 43. — Mysteries of the cellar and garret, 
45. — The ''Library Hospital," 45. — General Ward's headquarters, 46. 

Cambridge Common. By Ex-Mayor Charles H. Saunders 47 

Elections under the oak-tree, 47. — Vane objects to Winthrop, 48. — 
Whitefield preaches on the Common, 48. — President Langdon's prayer 
before Bunker Hill battle, 49. — Washington takes command, 49. — The 
Soldiers' Monument erected, 50. — Three old British cannon, 51. — A 
French piece, 52. 

Cambridge a City. By George Rufus Cook 53 

Three memorable days, 53. — Massachusetts cities, 54. — Rapid increase 
of population, 55. — The three villages of Cambridge town, 55. — The 
streets and the fire department, 56. — Municipal expenses at the begin- 
ning, 57. — The same expenses in 1S95, 57. — Present population, 59. — 
Village isolation a thing of the past, 60. — The water supply and the new 
parks, 62. — The mayors for fifty years, 63. 

Literary Life in Cambridge. By Horace E. Scudder, Editor of " The 

Atlantic Monthly " 67 

A clever question, 67. — Arthur Hugh dough, 68. — Joseph E. Worces- 
ter, and other authors, 68. — The printing-offices, 69. — Ramsay's in 
Harvard Square, 70. — Social literary life, 71. 



xiv CONTENTS. 

Scientific Cambridge. By John Trowbridge, S. D., Rumford Professor in 

Harvard College, and Director of the Jefferson Physical Laboratory . 72 
The most noteworthy portion of the university, 72. — An early notebook, 
73. — Dr. Jacob Bigelow appointed professor, 73. — Agassiz excites the 
spirit of research, 74. — Asa Gray, the botanist, 74. — The Scientific 
School, 75. — Alvan Clark's work, 76. — "It takes an eagle to train 
eaglets," 70. — Great increase of investigators, 77. 
The Characteristics of Municipal Government in Cambridge. By 

Hon. William A. Bancroft, Mayor of Cambridge 78 

Non-partisanship a distinctive feature, 78. — The pay-as-you-go policy, 
79. — Tenure of office, 80. — The machinery of the government, 80. — 
The council and the aldermen, 81. — The assignment of executive 
power. 8 1 . 

The Rindge Gifts. By Ex-Governor William E. Russell 82 

A new epoch marked, 82. — A public library needed, 82. — Mr. Rindge 
makes a generous offer, 83. — It is accepted by the city with thanks, 
83. — Other gifts, 85. — The Manual Training School and the City 
Hall, 86. 

" The Cambridge Idea." By Rev. David Nelson Beach 87 

A new phrase, 87. — Its meaning, 82. — The heritage of Cambridge, 
89. — Fair play and non-partisanship, 90. — The enforcement of law, 
91. — The no-license campaigns, 92. — The success and its wide influ- 
ence, 93. — "The Cambridge Idea in Temperance Reform," 93. — The 
successive votes, 94. — Division lines wiped out, 95. — The methods, 
97. — Noblesse oblige, 98. — Advantages of "The Cambridge Idea," 99. 

The Cambridge Littoral. By Frederic II. Viaux 101 

What Blaxton saw and what Winthrop did, 101. — Tide-covered low- 
lands, 102. — Marshes reclaimed, 103. — The adornment of the basin on 
the part of Boston and Cambridge, 105. — The Charles River Embank- 
ment Company, 106. — The Metropolitan Park Commission, 108. — The 
Cambridge Improvement Company, 109. — Wharves and docks of Cam- 
bridge, 110. — The transformation, 112. 

Cambridge Water-Works. By Hon. Chester W- Kingsley 113 

The Cambridgeport Aqueduct Company, 113. — Additional privileges, 
113. — Stony Brook and other sources, 114. — The financial exhibit, 
115. — Improvements effected by the work of the Water Board, 116. — 
Fresh Pond park and driveway, 117. — Membership of the Water 
Board, 118. 
Cambridge Parks. By Henry D. Yerxa, President of the Park Commission 118 
The beginning of a necessary work, 119. — The inadequacy of the former 
parks, 120. — One specimen, 121. — Cambridge Field, 122. —A magnifi- 
cent driveway, 123. — What Mr. Lowell thought, 125. 
Real-Estate Interests of Cambridge. By Hon. Leander M. Hannum . 126 
Great territorial extent of the early town, 127. — A "port of delivery," 
127- — Freight facilities, 127. — Improvements in various regions. 128. — 
Manufactures, 129. — Park improvements, 129. — Remarkable health- 
fulness and great educational advantages, 130. — Most desirable building 
sites, 130. 
The Health of Cambridge. By Henry P. Walcott, M. D., Chairman of the 

Massachusetts Board of Health 131 

Census records, 131. — The situation healthful, 131. — Compared with 
Boston, 131. — A considerable advantage, 132. — Good sewerage and 
good water supply, 132. — At the head of the list in the tenth census of 
the United States, 132. 



CONTENTS. xv 

Burial-Places in Cambridge. By George S. Saunders, Chairman of the 

Cambridge Cemetery Commissioners 133 

First burial-place, 133. — The Garden Street ground, 134. — The old 
Milestone, 134. — Monument to the Minute-Men, 135. — Major-General 
Gookin's grave, 13(3. — The Broadway ground, 137. — The Cambridge 
Cemetery, 13S. — Mount Auburn Cemetery, 139. — The Sphinx, 140. — 
Franklin's monument, 141. 

Harvard University in its Relations to the City of Cambridge. 

By Charles William Eliot, L.L.D., President 142 

The University estate and its purchase, 142. — The Yard, 142. — Gain to 
the city by the opening of the University grounds, 144. — The teaching 
of severe experience, 144. — Population enlarged by the presence of the 
University, 145. — The Botanic Garden and the Museum, 14G. — Lec- 
tures and concerts given in the University buildings, 146. — Chapel exer- 
cises, 146. — Advantages to the schools, 146. — Gain from the business 
of lodging the students, 147. — Noted names that add to the interest of 
living in Cambridge, 148. — As comfortable and happy a population as 
the world contains, 149. — Many visitors, 149. 

Harvard University. By Byron Satterlee Hurlbut, A. M., Recording Sec- 
retary of Harvard University 149 

The origin, history, and purpose of Harvard, 149. — The objects of 
endowments, 150. — The eight schools of the University, 151. — The 
various subjects of instruction, 151. — Students advised as to their work, 

152. — The Lawrence Scientific School, 153. — The Graduate School, 

153. — The Schools of Divinity and Law, 154. — Courses in the Law 
School, 155. — The Medical and Dental Schools and their courses of 
study, 156. — Schools of Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture, 157. — 
The Summer School, 158. — The endowments, 159. — Advantage of the 
elective system, 159. — A democratic community, 160. — Beneficent work 
of the students, 160. — Harvard men truth seekers, 161 . 

Chapel at Harvard. By the Right Reverend William Lawrence, Bishop 

of Massachusetts 161 

Development of the University from the College, 161. — "Old Jones" 
and his startling bell, 161. — " Good old Dr. Peabody," 162. — Greater 
maturity of the students, 162. — Influence of Phillips Brooks, 163. — The 
six "preachers in residence," 163. — Gain to Cambridge, 163. 

Physical Training. By Dudley A. Sargent, M. D., Director of the Hemen- 

way Gymnasium 164 

Cambridge the centre of growth in municipal health, 164. — Municipal 
conditions for prosperity or deterioration, 165. — Dr. Follen's gymna- 
sium, 165. — Ineffectual work, 166. — Games on the Delta, 167. — 
Rugby football, 168. — New apparatus, 169. — Athletic sports con- 
trolled, 170. — Effect of the Cambridge example on the country, 171. — 
The youth of Cambridge gain, 172. — A generous offer to the city, 173. 

Radcliffe College. By Arthur Gilman, Regent of Radcliffe College . . 174 
Harvard's first scholarship, 174. — The name Radcliffe adopted, 174. — 
A long look ahead by Dr. Stearns, 175. — Origin of Radcliffe, 176. — 
Long study of the plan, 176. — Fay House selected at an early date, 

177. — The "simple plan" communicated to President Eliot, 177. — 
Professor Greenough consulted, 178. — Seven ladies chosen as managers, 

178. — The first announcement, 179. — The education of women impor- 
tant, 189. — Why women prefer a college allied to one for men, 181. — 
The intellectual character of the women who come, 181. — Professor 
Greenough chairman, 182. — Fay House bought, 184. — Radcliffe Col- 



xvi CONTENTS. 

lege incorporated, 184. — The progress, 1S5. — Health of women in col- 
lege, 185. — The end attained, 1S6. 

The Public Schools of Cambridge. By Frank A. Hill, Secretary of the 

Massachusetts Board of Education ,. 187 

Corlett's " faire Grammar Schoole," 187. — Education enforced, 188. — 
Girls taught in 1780, 189. — The first teachers men, 190. — The Washing- 
ton Grammar School, 190. — The curriculum of the early schools, 191. — 
Margaret Fuller studies Latin, 192. — The girls and hoys separated, 
[92. — Taught in the same schools again, 193. — The high schools, 
194. — One high school for the entire town, 195. — Edward Everett 
delivers an eloquent address, 195. — The English high school and the 
Latin school separated, 190. — New huildings for hoth, 196. — The 
record of the past, 197. — Punishment, 197. — Spelling complained of, 
197. — "' Crying needs" in early days, 198. — A contrast, 200. — Parents 
called to account, 200. — Morals improved, 201. — The schools to-day, 
202. — A wide range offered, 203. — Mr. Cogswell's ingenious plan, 
205. — Kindergartens and evening high schools, 206. — Comparison 
shows improvement again, 207. — Inspiring surroundings, 208. 

Private Schools in Cambridge 208 

High character of the public schools has its influence, 208. — Professor 
Agassiz's school, 209. — The admirable management of Mrs. Agassiz, 
210. — • Professor Agassiz's methods, 211. — Mr. Kendall's school; Mr. 
Williston's school, 212. — The Browne and Nichols School, 212. — 
Classes small, 212. — Success of the school, 213. — A new building, 
213. — The Cambridge School for Girls, 214. — Its buildings, 215. — 
The home life, 216. — Miss Smith's school, 217. — The schools of Miss 
Markham and Miss Manson, 217. 

Cambridge Journalism. By F. Stanhope Hill, Editor of " The Cambridge 

Tribune" 218 

The first Cambridge newspaper, 218. — Joseph T. Buckingham and his 
papers, 219. — "A feller that ain't a Feared," 219. — Parsons, Garrison, 
Lovejoy, 220. — " The Cambridge Chronicle " begins the new era, 221. — 
"The Cambridge Press," 221. — "The Cambridge Tribune," 222. — 
" The Cambridge News," 222. — " The Sacred Heart Keview," 223.— 
College Journalism, 223. 

The Cambridge Manual Training School for Boys. By Charles H. 

Morse, the Superintendent 224 

Mr. Rindge makes an offer, 224. — The school established, 225. — Its 
reputation, 225. — A broad training, 226. — Military drills, 227. — The 
glee club, 227. 

The Public Library. By William J. Rolfe, Litt. D. 228 

The Cambridge Athenaeum, 228. — The Dana Library, 228. — Mr. 
Rindge makes an offer of a building, 228. — Features of the institution, 
229. —The Memorial Room, 230. — Gifts to the library, 231. — Miss 
Almira Hayward, 232. — The present librarian, 232. 

The Protestant Churches of Cambridge. By Rev. Alexander McKenzie, 

D. D 233 

Rev. Thomas Hooker, 233. — Thomas Shepard, 233. — The First Church 
in Cambridge, 234. — Anne Hutchinson, 235. — Urian Oakes in Newton, 
236. — Rev. Nathaniel Appleton, 237. — Rev. Abiel Holmes, the histo- 
rian, 237. — The College Church, 238. — A separation, 238. — The Uni- 
tarian pastors, 239. — The Episcopal churches, 239. — Dr. Briggs's long 
pastorate, 246. — Methodist and Baptist churches, 240. — The Univer- 
salist Church, 241. — Other churches, 241. — The Y. M. C. A. and the 
Y. W. C. A., 242. — The work of the churches, 243. 



CONTENTS. xvii 

The Catholics and their Churches. By Judge Charles J. Mclntire . . 244 
Father Duillettes comes, 244. — Rev. John de Cheverus, 245. — St. John's 
Parish and the Church of the Sacred Heart, 246. — The Catholic popu- 
lation increases, 247. — Other parishes formed, 248. — The parish of St. 
Peter's Church, 249. — The parish of St. Mary's Church, 250. — St. 
Paul's Church, 250. — The French Catholic Church, 251. — The Catho- 
lic Union, 252. — Temperance and charitable societies, 252. — Great 
charity between Catholics and Protestants, 253. 

The Episcopal Theological School. By the Rev. George Hodges, D. D., 

Dean 254 

Mr. Benjamin Tyler Reed founds the school, 254. — Its principles and 
what Phillips Brooks thought, 255. — The buildings and the instructors, 
250. 

The New-Church Theological School. By Rev. Theodore F. Wright, 

Ph.D 257 

The buildings, the grounds, and the principles of the school, 257. — 
Swedenborg the interpreter of the Scriptures, 258. — The management 
and the officers, 258. 

The Associated Charities of Cambridge. By William Taggard Piper . 259 
Dr. Charles E. Vaughan the originator, 259. — The objects and the work 
of the society, 259. — Its work test, 260. — Does not give alms, 261. 

The Avon Home. By William Taggard Piper 262 

Mrs. Paine the original president, 262. — Many applications for admis- 
sion, 263. — The anonymous founder presents the home a farm, 263. — 
The beneficent work done, 264. 

The Prospect Union. By Rev. Robert E. Ely, President 265 

Harvard students and the wage-earners, 265. — Some of the lecturers, 
266. — Not a charitable institution, 266. — Non-sectarian, 266. 

An Old-Time Society. By Arthur Gilman 267 

Dr. Holmes works in " the heated term," 267. — A meeting at Porter's 
Tavern, 267. — An address to the small public of Old Cambridge, 268. — 
Famous names, 269. — Subjects of thought, 270. — Discussing a boat, 
271. — The earliest " Board of Health," 271. —A bathing-house, 272.— 
Long terms of office, 273. 

East End Christian Union 275 

Beneficent work of Mr. Clapp and many others, 275. — A lending library, 
275. — The Triangle Club, 275. 

The Cambridge Hospital. By Dr. Morrill Wyman ........ 276 

The poor cared for in early times, 276. — Societies formed, 277. — Miss 
Emily E. Parsons begins a great work, 277. — Isaac Fay's bequest, 
27S. — The present building erected, 278. 

Freemasonry in Cambridge. By Henry Endicott, Past Grand Master of 

the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts 280 

Amicable Lodge begins the work, 280. — The Masonic Association, 
280. — Many members added, 281. — Dr. Paige's semi-centennial 
address, 283. — The present lodges, 284. 

Odd-Fellowship in Cambridge. By Rev. George W. Bicknell, D. D. . . 285 
Inception of the order in America, 285. — Its purpose, 2S5. — The vari- 
ous lodges in Cambridge, 286. 

The Grand Army in Cambridge, by John D. Billings 2S7 

Cambridge patriotism great, 287. — The Grand Army born, 288. — The 
various Posts, 289. — The John A. Logan Post, 290. — The Woman's 
Relief Corps, 291. 
Knights of Pythias. By Eben W. Pike 292 



xviii CONTENTS. 

Improved Order of Red Men 293 

Cambridge Clubs. By George Howland Cox 294 

The Colonial Club, 294. — Its building and its officers, 294. — The 
Newtowne Club and its officers, 21)5. — The Cambridge Club and its 
officers, 295. — The Economy Club, 295. — The Cantabrigia Club and its 
officers. 296. 

The Citizens' Trade Association and its Officers 297 

Financial and Manufacturing. By George Howland Cox 301 

Financial, 301. — The Cambridge Bank, 301. — Middlesex Bank, 
303. — Lechmere Bank, 303. — National City Bank, 303. — Charles River 
Bank, 304. — The First National Bank, 305. — The Cambridge National 
Bank, 307. — Cambridge Safe Deposit and Trust Company, 307. — 
The Cambridge Savings Bank, 309. — Cambridgeport Savings Bank, 
311. — North Avenue Savings Bank, 311. — East Cambridge Savings 
Bank, 312. Manufactures. — Unsurpassed advantages for manufactur- 
ing in Cambridge, 313. — Woodward Emery's remarks on this subject, 
314. — The Charles River region and the parks, 315. — The efficient fire 
and police departments, 316. — Fresh water in ample quantities, 316. 
— The Cambridge Mutual Fire Insurance Co., 317. — Table of com- 
parative water-rates, 318. — Valuation and polls in Cambridge for a 
series of years, 319. — Assets and liabilities of Cambridge, 320. — Prop- 
erty exempt by law on account of its public beneficence, 320. — The first 
typical railway ear, 321. — Manufactures in Cambridge for the year end- 
ing April 1, 1845, 322. — The same for the year ending June 1, 1855, 
323. — The same for the year ending May 1, 1865, 324. — The same for 
the year ending May 1, 1875, 325. — The same for the year ending June 
30, 18S5, 327. — Manufactures during the year 1890, 328. — General 
statistics of manufactures for the year ending June 30, 1885, 321. 

Printing and Publishing, 322. — Address by Hon. H. O. Houghton, 
332. — The work of John Wilson, Sr., 334. — The Riverside Press, 334. — 
The University Press, 336. — The AthenaBum Press, 337- — The Cam- 
bridgeport Diary Co., 339. — Other establishments, 341. — Musical Instru- 
ments, 342. — Machinery and Boiler Manufacture, 345. — Manufacturing 
Confectioners, 356. — Soap Manufacturers, 358. — Carriage Manufacture, 
362. — Furniture Manufacture, 364. — Miscellaneous Manufactures, 
366. — The Boston Woven Hose and Rubber Co., 366. — John P. 
Squire & Co., 371. — The Cambridge Electric Light Co., 373. — The 
Reversible Collar Co., 375. — The New York Biscuit Co., 378. — Alvan 
Clark & Sons, 379. — The Cambridge Gas Light Co., 380. — The Ameri- 
can Rubber Co., 381. — A. H. Hews & Co., 383. — The Riverside 
Bindery. 383. — Parry Brothers, manufacturers of Brick, 386. — Alex- 
ander McDonald & Son, 388. — The Dover Stamping Co., 389. — The 
Street Railways. 395. 

Government of the City of Cambridge, 1896 401 

The Celebration of the Completion of the Half-Century. Com- 
mittees 406 

Index 409 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



The committee desires to express its obligations to the Harvard Camera Club and the Old 
Cambridge Camera Club for valuable contributions of photographs. 

PAGE 

The Washington Elm Frontispiece 

The Longfellow House Garden, Winter Scene .... 16 

Craigie Street 28 

Harvard Street 36 

The Birthplace of Dr. O. W. Holmes ...... 44 

Portraits of Mayors, 1846-1869 54 

Portraits of Mayors, 1870-1896 ........ 62 

The Longfellow House 68 

The Lowell House 68 

The City Hall 78 

Frederick H. Rindgk 82 

Residences 90 

Residences 98 

Irving Street 106 

Engine, Cambridge Water-Works 11-4 

Park Shelter, Cambridge Field 120 

Residences 126 

Washington Avenue 132 

The Harvard Gate 142 

College Buildings 150 

College Buildings 158 

The Hemenway Gymnasium, Harvard University .... 164 

Radcliffe College 174 

The English High School 188 

The Cambridge Latin School 204 

The Manual Training School 210 

The Manual Training School, Interiors 224 

The Cambridge Public Library 228 

Churches 234 

Churches 244 

The Episcopal Theological School 254 

New-Church Theological School 258 

The Cambridge Hospital 276 

The Soldiers' Monument, Cambridge Common 2SS 

The Colonial Club House 294 

The Newtowne Club House 294 

The Cambridge Mutual Fire Insurance Co. Building . . . 300 

The Riverside Press in 1852 334 



XX 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



The Riverside Press in 1896 

The Athenaeum Pkess .- 

The University Press 

Buildings of the Rawson & Morrison Manufacturing Co. 

Buildings of Lamb & Ritchie 

Buildings of Henderson Bros 

Buildings of D. M. Hazen & Sons 

Buildings of George Close, Confectioner 

Buildings of Curtis Davis & Co 

Buildings of John Reardon & Son 

Buildings of W. C. H. Badger & Co 

Buildings of the Boston Woven Hose and Rubber Co. 

Buildings of the New York Biscuit Co 

Buildings of the American Rubber Co 

Buildings of the Reversible Collar Co 

The Metropolitan Storage Warehouse .... 



334 
336 
336 
348 
352 
352 
356 
356 
358 
360 
364 
366 
378 
3S2 
382 
396 



I. 



THE BEGINNINGS OF CAMBRIDGE. 

By JOHN FISKE, Litt. D., LL. D. 

When, in 1630, the- Company of Massachusetts Bay trans- 
ferred itself from London to Massachusetts, bringing - its gov- 
ernor, John Winthrop, and its charter, the movement was so 
popular in England that more than a thousand persons came 
over in the course of that year ; and before ten years had 
elapsed, more than twenty thousand had come to stay. The 
first settlements of the Winthrop party were scattered about 
the coast near Charles River, making the beginnings of Charles- 
town, Boston, Dorchester, Roxbury, and Watertown. Among 
these places Boston was clearly marked for preeminence by its 
geographical position, but it was not at first the intention of 
the Company to make it the seat of government. A position 
somewhat further inland would be more easily defensible against 
the enemy from whom most was to be feared, — not the Indi- 
ans, but the war-ships of King Charles. The transfer of the 
charter, which practically metamorphosed a powerful trading 
company into a semi-independent republic, was not likely to be 
regarded with favor by the Crown. In point of fact, we know 
that by 1635 Charles was intending to suppress the Company. 
He would very likely have carried out his intention, if affairs 
in Scotland had not suddenly absorbed his energies. After the 
tumult at St. Giles's church in Edinburgh in 1637, when the 
old woman threw her camp-stool at the bishop's head, the char- 
ter of Massachusetts was safe for many a year to come ; but 
before that time the settlers had much reason for regarding it 
as in danger. 

The situation of Watertown was a little too far inland for 
convenience, but a position on Charles River somewhat lower 
than Watertown would be far less accessible to war-ships — 
either English or foreign — than the peninsulas of Boston and 
Charlestown, while by palisades to the north and west it might 



2 THE BEGINNINGS OF CAMBRIDGE. 

be made to serve as a frontier defense against the red men. 
" Wherefore," says Edward Johnson, " they rather made choiee 
to enter further among the Indians than hazard the fury of 
malignant adversaries who in a rage might pursue them, and 
therefore chose a place situate on Charles River, between 
Charles Towne and Water Towne, where they erected a town 
called New Towne, now named Cambridge, being in form like 
a list cut off from the broadcloth of the two fore-named towns, 
where this wandering race of Jacobites gathered the eighth 
church of Christ." The desirable spot, which we now know as 
Old Cambridge, was selected on the 28th of December, 1630. 
It was agreed that the governor, deputy-governor, and all the 
assistants (except Endicott, already settled at Salem, and one 
other who was about to return to England) should build their 
houses there during the following year, and that all the ord- 
nance and munition should be moved thither. This agreement 
was not carried out, save by Thomas Dudley, the deputy-gov- 
ernor, who built his house in 1G31, on the site which is now the 
northwest corner of South and Dunster streets, and his son- 
in-law, Simon Bradstreet, who built upon the Boylston Street 
corner of Harvard Square. Upon that familiar site may very 
likely have begun the literary activity of New England, with 
some of those ponderous verses of Mrs. Bradstreet's, concerning 
which Rev. John Norton once said that if Virgil could only 
have seen them he would have thrown his own heathen dog- 
gerel into the fire ! Winthrop and the other members of the 
council never came to dwell in the New Town, and the inten- 
tion of making it the seat of government was gradually aban- 
doned. The General Court was assembled first at Charlestown 
in the summer of 1630 ; then at Boston until May, 1634 ; then 
at the New Town until May, 1636 ; then at Boston, and back 
again at the New Town from April, 1637, till September, 1638 ; 
and always thereafter at Boston, until the stormy days that 
ushered in the Revolution. 

The original New Town — or what we might perhaps call 
" Oldest Cambridge " — was comprised between Harvard 
Square and the river, from Holyoke Street on the east to Brat- 
tle Square on the west. By 1635, the streets now called Mount 
Auburn, Winthrop, South, Holyoke, Dunster, and Boylston 
had come into existence within these limits. The northern 
frontier street, upon the site of Harvard Street and Harvard 



"HANDSOME CONTRIVED STREETS." 3 

Square, was called Braintree Street. A road upon the site of 
the lower end of Brattle Street with Brattle Square was known 
as Creek Lane, and it was continued in a southeasterly sweep 
into Boylston Street by Marsh Lane, afterwards called Eliot 
Street. On the north side of Braintree Street, opposite Dun- 
ster, and thence eastward about as far as opposite the site of 
Linden, stood a row of six houses, and at their back was the 
ancient forest. Through this forest ran the trail or path from 
Charlestown to Watertown, nearly coinciding with the crooked 
line Kirkland- Mason- Brattle -Elmwood- Mount Auburn; this 
was the first highway from the seaboard into the inland country. 
The palisaded wall, with its ditch, for defense against Indians 
and wolves, started at Windmill Hill, by the present site of Ash 
Street, and ran along the northern side of the present Common 
into what is now Jarvis Field, and perhaps beyond. 

A writer in 1633 mentions the New Town as " too far from 
the sea, being the greatest inconvenience it hath." He de- 
scribes it as " one of the neatest and best compacted towns in 
New England, having many fair structures, with many hand- 
some contrived streets. The inhabitants, most of them, are 
very rich, and well stored with cattle of all sorts, having many 
hundred acres of land paled in with general fence, . . . which 
secures all their weaker cattle from the wild beasts." 1 

The common grazing-land covered the site of the present 
Common, and extended beyond the palisade as far as Linnaean 
Street. It was at the outset directed that houses should be 
built within the "Town" until it should be properly filled, be- 
fore going beyond. By 1635, there were sixty-four house-lots 
within the Town, of which about fifty had homesteads built 
upon them. The region next occupied by dwellings was the 
" West End," extending between Garden Street and the river, 
as far west as Sparks Street. To provide against the building 
of cheap and frail structures, it was agreed in 1633 that all 
houses should be covered with slate or shingles, not with thatch. 
Before the end of 1635, there were at least eighty-five houses in 
the New Town. 

Eastward from Holyoke (then called Crooked) Street ran 

Back Lane, while Braintree Street, deflecting southeastward, 

took the name of Field Lane. These two lanes, meeting near 

the present junction of Bow and Arrow streets, formed the 

1 Wood's New England's Prospect, p. 45. 



4 THE BEGINNINGS OF CAMBRIDGE. 

" highway into the Neck," running eastward as far as the site 
of Washington Square. Under the somewhat vague phrase, 
" The Neck," was comprised the territory now covered by Cam- 
bridgeport and East Cambridge. It was divided into arable 
lots, and parceled among the inhabitants in severalty. The 
western part was cut up into small portions of from one to 
three acres, but to the eastward of the site of Hancock Street 
it was granted in large farms of from twenty to sixty acres. 
This region of the Neck was marked off and protected by a pal- 
ing which ran — to use modern names — from Holyoke Place 
to Gore Hall, and thence to the line between Cambridge and 
Somerville at Line Street near Cambridge Street. 

Thus we find in the beginnings of Cambridge clear traces of 
the ancient English method of forming a town, with its threefold 
partition into town mark, arable mark, and common. At a later 
time a second arable portion was inclosed between Garden Street 
and Vassall Lane, westward from Wyeth Street to Fresh Pond 
meadows ; this was known as the " West Field." And there 
was yet another, a little to the north of the Palfrey estate on 
Oxford Street, and known as " Pine Swamp Field." Extensive 
marshes stretched along the bank of the river from the vicinity 
of Mount Auburn to East Cambridge. Along the west side of 
Brattle Square ran a small creek, which curved southwestward 
through marshes, inclosing Eliot and South streets, and empty- 
ing into Charles Kiver near the site of College Wharf. This 
creek, deepened and widened into a canal, furnished access to 
the Town from the river, and at its mouth was a ferry, estab- 
lished in 1635, connecting with a road on the south bank through 
Brookline to Boston Neck. The only other communication 
with Boston was through Charlestown and by ferry to Copp's 
Hill. The inconvenience of depending solely upon ferries was 
soon felt, and by 1662 the Great Bridge was built, connected 
by a causeway with what we call Boylston Street, and leading 
across to what we call Allston. There was no other bridge 
until the one from East Cambridge to Charlestown was finished 
in 1786, soon to be followed by West Boston Bridge in 1793, 
which wrought a great change in the facing of Cambridge to- 
ward Boston. Throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth cen- 
turies the true river front of Cambridge was at the Great Bridge. 
The filling in of Back Bay, the westward expansion of Boston, 
and the completion of Harvard Bridge in 1890, have been steps 
toward restoring the ancient frontage. 



"A PALLYSADOE ABOUTE THE NEWE TOWNE." 5 

The first Meeting-House stood on the southwest corner of 
Dunster and Mount Auburn streets. It was soon found too 
small and flimsy, and in 1650 a better one was built at the 
southwest corner of the College Yard, nearly on the site of 
Dane Hall. From 1650 to 1833 that spot was occupied by the 
Meeting-House of the First Parish. The space between the 
sites of Church and Garden streets was inclosed as a grave- 
yard or God's Acre in 1636. Of next importance to the church, 
in a New England town, was the Town-House. In early times 
the Meeting-House was commonly used for civil as well as 
ecclesiastical purposes, and there the town-meetings were held. 
In Cambridge a Court-House, built in 1708, was used also as a 
Town-House ; it stood in the middle of Harvard Square, near 
the waiting-place of the Broadway and East Cambridge cars. 

Winthrop Square was an open market-place, and on its west 
side after 1660 stood the jail. The place of execution, or 
"Gallows Lot," was at the extreme end of the Common, on the 
northwest corner of Linnaean Street and North Avenue. There 
in 1755 an old negro woman named Phillis was burned alive 
for murdering her master, Captain Codman, of Charlestown. 

In bringing together the various topographical features of 
Old Cambridge in its early days, the strict sequence of chro- 
nology has been to some extent disregarded. We may now 
return to the year 1632, when the Court of Assistants imposed 
a tax of sixty pounds sterling upon " the several plantations 
within the lymitts of this pattent towards the makeing of a 
pallysadoe aboute the Newe Towne." Here the men of Water- 
town protested, and refused to pay their share of the tax because 
they were not represented in the body which imposed it. The 
ensuing discussion resulted in the establishment of a House of 
Deputies, in which every town was represented. Henceforth 
the Council of Assistants in conjunction with the House of 
Deputies formed the General Court of Massachusetts Bay. 
Thus the building of a wooden palisade from Ash Street to 
Jarvis Field furnished the occasion for the first great assertion 
of the principles of constitutional law and free government in 
New England. Two years before the issue of that illegal writ 
of ship money, which it is John Hampden's glory to have re- 
sisted, did these " village Hampdens " of Watertown utter their 
memorable protest. 

In the summer of 1632, a congregation from Braintree in 



6 THE BEGINNINGS OF CAMBRIDGE. 

Essex came over to Massachusetts and began to settle near 
Mount Wollaston, where they left the name of Braintree on 
the map ; but in August they removed to the New Town, where 
Braintree Street took its name from them. Their pastor, the 
eminent Thomas Hooker, who had been obliged to flee to Hol- 
land, arrived in the course of the next year. This accession 
raised the population of the New Town to something like 500 
persons. But the new-comers were not satisfied with things as 
they found them, and by 1634 we begin to hear them talk about 
going elsewhere. Some bold explorers had penetrated far west, 
even to the Connecticut valley, and brought back glowing ac- 
counts of its fertility and beauty. Hooker's people declared 
that there was not room enough in the New Town for their 
cattle, and they wished to go and take possession of the Con- 
necticut valley and keep out the Dutch, who had set up a claim 
to it. Besides these specific reasons they alleged in general 
" the strong bent of their spirits to remove thither." 

In this scheme of removal there is no doubt that " more was 
meant than meets the ear." It has been surmised that it was 
rather the pastor than the cattle that was cramped for room, 
for one small colony could hardly be expected to hold two such 
potent and masterful spirits as Thomas Hooker and John Cot- 
ton. But the root of the trouble was evidently something deeper 
and more important than personal jealousy. The colony in 
Massachusetts Bay had adopted the policy of restricting the 
suffrage to members of the Congregational church. This policy 
was primarily intended to keep out Episcopalians and other 
" malignants." The subsequent conduct of Hooker's people 
shows that they disapproved of it. No other ground of differ- 
ence between them and their neighbors was nearly so important 
as this, but both Hooker and Governor Winthrop were great 
men, and too discreet to indulge in a controversy that would 
breed schism and bitterness. Some objections were raised to 
" removing a candlestick," but the candlestick would not stay. 
In the course of the year 1635 began the exodus from the 
Charles River to the Connecticut, In June, 1636, Mr. Hooker 
went with most of his congregation and founded Hartford, while 
the congregations of Dorchester and Watertown founded Wind- 
sor and Wethersfield. The exodus from the New Town was so 
great that of the families dwelling there in January, 1635, not 
more than eleven are known to have remained until the end of 
1636. 



MR. SHEPARD' S MINISTRY. 7 

But the places of those who departed were filled without 
delay. In the autumn of 1635, Rev. Thomas Shepard arrived 
from England with his congregation, and forthwith the meet- 
ing-house and the dwellings of the old company were occupied 
by the new. The next year saw the little colony convulsed 
by the religious teachings of Mrs. Anne Hutchinson, who dwelt, 
with her large family, on the site of the Old Corner Bookstore 
in Boston. This brilliant woman won over, at least partly, to 
her views, John Cotton, the teacher of the Boston church, and 
Harry Vane, the youthful governor ; while John Wilson, the 
pastor, and ex-Governor Winthrop were opposed to her. Over 
theological questions of " grace " and " works " civil dudgeon 
grew high, and when the freemen were assembled on the New 
Town Common, in the apple-blossom season of 1637, to elect 
their magistrates for the ensuing year, there was some fear of 
a tumult, until Mr. Wilson climbed into a gnarled and ancient 
oak-tree and made a sensible speech to the people. Winthrop 
was elected governor, and the Hutchinsonians were thoroughly 
defeated. In August, a synod, assembled in the meeting-house, 
condemned eighty-two opinions as blasphemous, erroneous, or 
unsafe. In November, the General Court summoned Mrs. 
Hutchinson to the New Town, and sentenced her to banishment 
from Massachusetts, with many of her friends and kinsfolk. 
In view of these proceedings, Shepard seems to have dreaded 
the displeasure of Vane, who had returned to England ; for a 
moment he was inclined to follow in the footsteps of Hooker, 
whose daughter he had lately married, and lead his congrega- 
tion to the beautiful hillside of Mattabeseck, on the Connecti- 
cut River below Wethersfield. But it was left for other settlers 
a few years later to occupy that spot and call it Middletown. 
Shepard remained in the New Town, and his presence there is 
believed to have shaped its destinies. For his " vigilancy " 
against heresies had been well proved in the Hutchinson con- 
troversy, and Cotton Mather tells us that " it was with a re- 
spect unto this vigilancy, and the enlightening and powerful 
ministry of Mr. Shepard, that, when the foundation of a college 
was to be laid, Cambridge rather than any other place was 
pitched upon to be the seat of that happy seminary : out of 
which there proceeded many notable preachers, who were made 
such by their sitting under Mr. Shepard ; s ministry." x 
1 Mather's Magnolia, III. v. 12. 



8 THE BEGINNINGS OF CAMBRIDGE. 

The founding of Harvard College was, of course, the car- 
dinal event in the history of Cambridge. In October, 1636, 
the General Court agreed to give £400 toward the founding of 
a college ; in November, 1637, it was ordered that the college 
should be placed in the New Town. " And as wee were think- 
ing and consulting how to effect this great work, it pleased God 
to stir up the heart of one Mr. Harvard (a godly gentleman, 
and a lover of learning, there living amongst us) to give the 
one halfe of his estate (it being in all about £1700) towards 
the erecting of a Colledge, and all his Library ; after him 
another gave £300, others after them cast in more, and the 
publique hand of the state added the rest." 1 

Most of the clergymen who came to New England were grad- 
uates of Cambridge, and as soon as the New Town was desig- 
nated as the seat of the college, people seem to have begun 
calling it Cambridge. In May, 1638, this change of name was 
sanctioned by the General Court, and in March, 1639, the name 
of Harvard was given to the college. For the college yard was 
taken the land between the Charlestown highway (Kirkland 
Street) and Braintree Street, the name of which was changed 
to Harvard Street. A fence and gate between the college yard 
and the graveyard, near the site of the present flagstaff, served 
to keep out of the village the cattle that grazed on the Common. 
Across Harvard Street (near Linden) was the east gate of the 
town ; and where the palisade crossed the Watertown highway 
(Brattle Street) at Ash Street was the west gate. 

In 1639, the first printing-press in America north of the city 
of Mexico was set up by Stephen Daye, at the west corner of 
Dunster Street and Harvard Square. Among its earliest pro- 
ductions were Peirce's New England Almanack, and the Bay 
Psalm Book, and there was afterward printed that monument 
of labor, Eliot's Indian Bible. 

The complaints of insufficient land led to extensive grants of 
territory, until from 1644 to 1655 Cambridge attained enormous 
dimensions, including the whole areas of Brighton and Newton 
on the south side of the river, and on the other hand in a north- 
westerly direction the whole or large parts of Arlington, Lex- 
ington, Bedford, and Billerica. In 1655, this vast area was 
first curtailed by cutting off the parts beyond Lexington. Then 
in 1688, Newton, which had been known as Cambridge Village 
1 New England's First Fruits, p. 12. 



WOLVES AND BEARS IN THE WOODS. 9 

and sometimes as New Cambridge, became an independent 
township under name of Newtown. The Lexington area was 
known as " Cambridge Farms," but the founding of a church 
there in 1696 was the preliminary to separation, and in 1713 
Cambridge Farms became a distinct town by the name of 
Lexington. 

In 1754, the boundary between Cambridge and Watertown 
was carried westward about half a mile from its former posi- 
tion at or near Sparks Street, thus adding to Cambridge some 
of its most valuable area for dwellings. Between 1802 and 
1820, other desirable acquisitions, including the Norton estate, 
were acquired from that part of Charlestown which is now 
Somerville. 

After 1732, Menotomy was the Second Parish of Cambridge, 
until 1807, when it was incorporated a distinct town under the 
clumsy title of West Cambridge, for which the name Arlington 
was substituted in 1867. 

After 1779, the territory remaining ' on the south side of 
Charles River was known as the Third Parish, or Little Cam- 
bridge, until 1807, when it became a separate town under the 
name of Brighton. In 1873, Brighton was annexed to Boston. 

It was in the natural course of things that these outlying 
districts should with increase of popidation become organized 
at first into independent parishes and afterward into separate 
towns. In 1650, they were little else but wilderness. The 
palisades were needed to protect Cambridge from wild beasts 
much more than from any human foes. On February 13, 1665, 
we find the constables ordered " to allow Justinian Holden ten 
shillings towards a wolf, killed partly in Watertowne and partly 
in this." It would be interesting to know on just what principle 
the locality of that brute's death was divided. In 1690, the 
town treasurer allows XI per wolf for 52 wolves killed by Eng- 
lishmen, but an Indian for the same service gets only half 
price. In 1696, the reward for killing 76 wolves was 13s. 4c?. per 
head. Bears also roamed in the woods, and persons were some- 
times killed by them, but the appearance of a bear in 1754 in 
what is now East Cambridge was remarked upon as extraordi- 
nary. 

The nearest Indian tribe dwelt to the west of Mystic Pond, 
and was governed by a squaw sachem. The land occupied by 
Cambridge was bought of this tribe, apparently for =£10 beside 



10 THE BEGINNINGS OF CAMBRIDGE. 

an annual present of a coat to the squaw sachem during her 
lifetime. The relations between white men and red men were 
friendly. In 1644, these Mystic Indians voluntarily put them- 
selves under the protection and jurisdiction of the English 
government at Boston. Eliot's first sermon to the Indians was 
preached in 1646 at Nonantum, south of Charles River, and 
at that time within the limits of Cambridge. More than 1000 
Indians in the country between Boston and Worcester came to 
profess Christianity, and it was hoped that Harvard College 
could be used effectively in civilizing them. But Harvard had 
only one Indian graduate, Caleb Cheeshahteaumuck, who re- 
ceived his degree in 1665 and died the next year. In the terri- 
ble crisis of King Philip's War some of the " praying Indians " 
found the ties of blood stronger than those of religion, and a 
fierce popular distrust was aroused against them. In the early 
spring of 1676, there was a feeling of alarm in Cambridge 
lest the town should be attacked, and timber was gathered 
for strengthening the fortifications, which had suffered from 
neglect ; but the panic soon subsided, and after that year such 
dangers were removed to an ever receding frontier. 

The settlers of New England dreaded heresy far more than 
they dreaded Indians, and in 1646 a synod of delegates from 
the colonies of Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New 
Haven was assembled at Cambridge, in order to define their 
creed and agree upon a system of church government. The 
work of the synod was finished in 1648. The Westminster 
Assembly's creed was adopted, as also a " platform of church 
discipline,'' known as the Cambridge Platform, upon which all 
the Congregational churches of New England were able to 
stand for the next four generations. 

While the synod was in session the first permanent school- 
house was built, on the west side of Holyoke Street, where it 
stood until 1769 ; for nearly another century its site was occu- 
pied by the printing-press long since famous as the University 
Press. The parsonage was built in 1670, on the north side of 
Harvard Street, with a glebe of about four acres attached to it. 
In 1680, the number of ratable polls was returned as 169, which 
indicates a population of about 850 souls in Cambridge. Their 
annual allowance for the parson was about ,£51 in cash and 
£78 in provisions, besides 20 loads of firewood and the use of 
house and land. The schoolmaster was paid about £20 a year. 



BELCHERS FIRST ORDINARY. 11 

In thus mentioning schoolhouse and parsonage, one nearly 
completes the outline picture of the little seventeenth-century 
town. But one other building-, of high consideration and im- 
portance, calls for mention, to wit, the village ale-house. Our 
Puritan forefathers did not frown upon such good cheer as was 
there provided, but they took care that it should be dispensed 
by discreet and responsible persons. An innkeeper in those 
days must be a man of approved character, and the position 
was most respectable. We find that in 1652 " the townsmen 
do grant liberty to Andrew Belcher to sell beer and bread, for 
entertainment of strangers and the good of the town." The 
wife of this Andrew Belcher was sister of Thomas Danforth, 
the deputy-governor ; their son, who also became mine host, was 
a member of the Council, and their grandson was Jonathan 
Belcher, royal governor of Massachusetts and of New Jersey. 
In 1671, at the northeast corner of Mount Auburn and Boyl- 
ston streets, the first Belcher opened the famous Blue Anchor 
Tavern, which remained on that spot until 1737, when its sign 
was transferred to a more commodious house on the west side 
of Boylston Street, nearly opposite the recent site of the post- 
office. In a parlor of the Blue Anchor, the selectmen of 
Cambridge used to hold their meetings, in which the carking 
cares of public business were pleasantly assuaged with cool 
punch in the summer months and fragrant flip in winter. 

The site of the worthy Belcher's first ordinary, before the 
Blue Anchor days, seems not to be known ; and the more is 
the pity, for there we may be pretty sure that the regicide 
judges, William Goffe and his father-in-law Whalley, must at 
some time have found entertainment. From their arrival on 
the 27th of July, 1660, these men lived in Cambridge, without 
any attempt at concealment, until the 26th of the following 
February, when they deemed it prudent to retire to New 
Haven. 

The regicides, like other visitors to Cambridge in those days, 
are likely to have been impressed with its tidy and comfortable 
appearance. In the tavern talk to which they listened, they 
may have heard that witchcraft, that torment of the Old World, 
had come to plague the New. For over in Charlestown a few 
years ago Margaret Jones had cured sick people without resort 
to bleeding or emetics, and when she was hanged for these 
diabolical practices, at the moment her soul quit the body there 



12 THE BEGINNINGS OF CAMBRIDGE. 

was a gale in Connecticut that blew down trees. Then there 
was a Cambridge woman by the name of Kendall, who picked 
up the child of Goodman Jennison, of Watertown, and kissed 
and fondled it, and a few hours afterward the child grew pale 
and died ; wherefore, as was natural, the witch Kendall was 
hanged on Gallows Lot. 

Another topic for the Puritan ale-house would be the " damna- 
ble heresy " for which Mr. Henry Dunster, President of Har- 
vard College, was censured by the magistrates and dismissed 
from office in 1655. This shameless Dunster had publicly 
denounced the practice of infant baptism as unscriptural. In 
spite of august synods, in spite of the " vigilancy " of Mr. 
Shepard and other learned parsons, it was impossible to keep 
the serpent of heresy out of this New World Eden. Had not 
those froward Quakers persisted in leaving Rhode Island, where 
they were hospitably treated, and coming to Boston, where they 
were not wanted ? There was Mary Dyer, who had lately been 
hanged on Boston Common because she would not go away when 
told to ; and then came Elizabeth Horton to disturb the peace 
of Cambridge by crying through the streets that the Lord was 
coming with fire and sword to judge his people, nor would she 
desist till she was flogged out of town at the cart's tail. Still 
worse : there was Benanuel Bowers, gentleman and land-owner 
(up north, near the Charlestown line), whom no threats could 
restrain from declaring himself a Baptist, and who for giving a 
glass of milk to starving Elizabeth Horton was fined £5. This 
bold Benanuel himself turned Quaker, and was for twenty years 
a thorn in the orthodox flesh of our little town. Over and over 
again he was fined 20,s. for staying away from church, and now 
and then for entertaining Quakers at his house, £4 and costs. 
In 1G77, for refusing to pay his fine, he was thrown into jail 
and kept there for more than a year. He solaced himself by 
writing verses, of which the following are a specimen, and 
sending them by his wife to Thomas Danforth, one of the 
magistrates : — 

" It is nigli hard this fifteene years since first oure war begun 
And yet the feild I have not lost nor thou the conquest wunn 
Against thy power I have ingaged which of us twoo shall conquer 
I am resolvd if God assist to put it to the venter 
Both my person and estate for truth Isle sacrafise 
And all I have He leave at stake He venter winn or loose," etc. 



BENANUEL BOWERS. 13 

For these audacious sentiments Mr. Bowers was sentenced to 
pay £5, or take twenty stripes. A few weeks later, in the church 
one Sunday morning just after the benediction, we see him 
jumping- up on the pew seat and haranguing the people with his 
tale of wrongs, despite the minister's angry protests, until pres- 
ently the constables come in and drag the irrepressible Benanuel 
out of the sacred edifice. Such scenes were witnessed in Har- 
vard Square two centuries ago. May all of us who hate oppres- 
sion, and love independence of spirit, do honor to the memory 
of sturdy Benanuel Bowers. 

In that same meeting-house in 1745 did George Whitefield's 
admirers wish to have him invited to preach, but the minister, 
Mr. Appleton, would in no wise give consent ; so Whitefield 
spoke in the open air to a crowd that covered the Common. 
This preaching marked the downfall of the era of Puritan 
theocracy; and nothing more was needed to emphasize and 
accentuate that downfall than the introduction of the Church 
of England into Cambridge. Our story of the Beginnings of 
Cambridge may fitly close with the founding of Christ Church, 
hard by God's Acre, in 1759. A century after its founding- 
there was hung in its belfry a chime of bells, and for many a 
year to come may their cheerful music 

" Ring in the valiant man and free, 

The larger heart, the kindlier hand; 
Ring out the darkness of the land, 
Rino- in the Christ that is to be." 



CAMBRIDGE TOWN, 1750-1846. 

By ANDREW McFARLAND DAVIS. 

The period in the history of Cambridge which we are about 
to consider naturally divides itself into two portions, the line of 
separation between which is furnished by the Revolution. The 
marked differences in the career of the town, caused by its 
change from a township in the Royal Province of Massachusetts 
Bay to one of the fundamental parts which constituted the State 
of Massachusetts, would attract the attention of the most casual 
observer. Geographically it had already been greatly reduced 
in area. During the period which we are considering it was to 
be still further curtailed by the incorporation of Brighton and 
West Cambridge as separate townships, while as a slight com- 
pensation the area along the river west of Sparks Street was 
to be taken from Watertown and added to the jurisdiction of 
Cambridge. 

As we first view the town in 1750, there is much that is pic- 
turesque in the placid life of its inhabitants, who numbered 
perhaps 1500, and who were settled mainly in the neighbor- 
hood of the college. The outlying settlement at Menotomy 
had already taken its first step towards separate life as a town- 
ship. It had been incorporated as a precinct, and a church 
had been regularly organized there. The interest taken by 
the inhabitants of the body of the town, in the struggle of 
the residents south of the Charles River for similar privileges, 
was far greater during the years of political inaction which pre- 
ceded the attempts of Great Britain to tax the colonies than 
that produced by the slight participation of the town in the 
prolonged contest between the colonies and the French and 
Indians. As early as 1744, an attempt had been made to secure 
the necessary legislation for the establishment of a separate par- 
ish south of the Charles. Unsuccessful at that time, the peti- 
tioners renewed the contest in 1748, only to be defeated. In 



THE STONE POWDER-HOUSE. 15 

the discussion that then took place, the members of the First 
Parish claimed that if the petition were allowed, compensation 
should be made by adding to the parish a number of families 
residing in Charlestown and Watertown, who had for years 
attended public worship in Cambridge. 

In December, 1753, the question was again presented to the 
General Court, and again the petition for a separate precinct 
was dismissed. A petition made at the same time by the First 
Parish for the annexation to Cambridge of that portion of 
Watertown west of what we now know as Sparks Street, and 
south of Vassall Lane, extending to Fresh Pond, prevailed. The 
committee to whom it was referred reported, April 17, 1754, 
in its favor, and the next day an order to that effect was passed 
by the Assembly. 

In 1758, the inhabitants south of Charles River again peti- 
tioned for a separate precinct. Consideration of this petition 
was postponed from time to time, but in March, 1760, a com- 
mittee reported, recommending practically that it be granted, 
and that as a compensation, a part of the territory of Charles- 
town should be annexed to the First Parish. Action on this 
report was deferred until April 17, 1761, when it was submitted, 
but not adopted. A compromise measure offered the next day 
met a better fate. The residents south of the Charles did 
not secure their separate autonomy, but an annual allowance of 
<£52 was granted them for the support of preaching in their 
meeting-house, and they were exempted from paying their pro- 
portion for the new meeting-house of the First Parish. A 
strip of land in Charlestown was at the same time annexed 
to the First Parish. This extended from the salt-water creek 
adjoining Lieutenant-Governor Phips's farm up to the Stone 
Powder-House, and thence to the Medford line. Unfortunately 
for Cambridge this annexed territory was not to become an 
integral part of the First Parish unless the inhabitants thereof 
should fail within two months to give security to the treasurer 
of the parish for the annual payment of their proportion of the 
charges of maintaining public worship in the parish, so long as 
they should attend worship there. The threat to these Charles- 
town people of being permanently attached to Cambridge, unless 
they should settle with the treasurer of the First Parish, appar- 
ently served its purpose, and this district remained a part of 
Charlestown. 



1G CAMBRIDGE TOWN, 1750-1846. 

The compromise with the inhabitants south of the river 
resulted in a truce, which lasted for sixteen years, but in 1774 
they renewed their efforts for separation. The General Court, 
to which the petition was presented, was adjourned by General 
Gage to Salem before it was considered, and there is no reason 
to suppose that action could have been had upon it during the 
excitement of the brief session at that place. 

In 1778, a new petition to the same effect was presented. 
This was met by a counter-petition presented by families living 
on the south side of the river, within easy distance of the First 
Parish Church, who protested against being compelled to sever 
their connection with that organization. On the first of May a 
bill was passed incorporating the precinct, but exempting from 
ministerial taxation therein certain of the protestants. Thus 
was this long protracted struggle concluded by the triumph of 
the separatists. Begun at a period when it was of the utmost 
importance to the townspeople and was the all-absorbing topic 
of local politics, it was continued during the passage of events 
which completely overshadowed it, and was concluded at a time 
when all thoughts were concentrated upon the impending strug- 
gle with the Mother Country. A separate church was founded 
in the precinct in 1783, and the parish was incorporated as the 
town of Brighton, February 24, 1807. Three days thereafter 
West Cambridge was incorporated as an independent town- 
ship. The act under which this last was accomplished was not, 
however, to take effect until June 1, 1807. 

The body of the town, as the central settlement was formerly 
termed, was in 1750 centred upon that part of the Common now 
called Harvard Square. Here were the church and the court- 
house standing side by side in open ground, part of which is now 
to be found in the square itself and the rest within the college 
yard. These buildings could either of them be used for town 
meetings, and Cambridge was therefore for a long while ex- 
empted from the necessity of erecting a separate town-house. 
The jail stood on the northerly side of Winthrop Street, between 
Winthrop Square and Eliot Street. In 1757, the county 
built a new court-house on the lot where Lyceum Hall now 
stands, and this structure was occupied for county purposes 
until the removal of the courts and records to East Cambridge 
in 1816, when both it and the Winthrop Street jail were aban- 
doned. The burial ground adjoining the present First Parish 
Church was in 1750 the town burial ground. 



A NEW MEETING-HOUSE. 17 

Provision for the support of the poor in private families was 
made in early times out of the town rate, and it was not until 
1779 that an estate was secured by the town for a poorhouse. 
This property, which stood at the northeast corner of Brighton 
and South streets, was sold in 1786, and about five acres lying 
at the southwest corner of North Avenue and Cedar Street were 
purchased. A building called The Poor's House was erected 
thereon. 

A new meeting-house for the First Parish, nearly on the site 
of the one then in .being, was raised November 17, 1756. The 
first service was held in it July 24, 1757. The college con- 
tributed one seventh of the cost of its erection, and also, in 
consideration of the acceptance of certain conditions which it 
imposed relative to the interior construction, it relinquished to 
the parish a strip of land in order that the building might be 
set further back from the street than the site of the former 
house. It was in this church that Washington attended divine 
service when in Cambridge at the head of the army. It was 
here that the convention to frame a constitution for Massa- 
chusetts held its sessions in 1779. It was here that Lafayette 
was received in 1824, and here also, for three quarters of a 
century, the Commencement and other public exercises of the 
college were held. 

The distribution of the population in the three parishes in 
1750 is largely a matter for conjecture. We have, however, 
the means of forming an approximate opinion. In 1765, the in- 
habitants numbered 1571. Eleven years later, there were 1586. 
There can be but little doubt that in 1750 the population was 
in the neighborhood of 1500, of whom about one half lived in 
the body of the town, one third in Menotomy, and one sixth 
south of the Charles. Manufactures were unknown. Laborers 
found their way to their work without the aid of a chorus of 
dissonant whistles, nor were there other means at hand than 
the church-bell to rouse distant slumberers in case of fire at 
night. The bellowing of some sleep-destroying instrument was 
far more needed then than now, for Cambridge was dependent 
then upon the industry and perseverance of her citizens at large 
for checking the progress of her fires. The first trace which 
Mr. Paige finds of the organization of a fire company and the 
purchase of a fire engine was in 1803. Yet in the account of 
the burning of Harvard Hall in January, 1764, we learn that 



18 CAMBRIDGE TOWN, 1750-1846. 

Stoughton (the first of that name) and Massachusetts and Hol- 
lis were saved through the exertions of citizens, members of the 
General Court, and even of the governor himself, who, " not- 
withstanding the extreme rigor of the season, exerted themselves 
in supplying the town-engine with water, which they were 
obliged to fetch at last from a distance, two of the College 
pumps being then rendered useless." When was this engine 
purchased which is here alluded to as the town-engine ? If we 
could ascertain, we could fix the birth of our fire department. 
Perhaps it was the engine belonging to Henry Vassall, which in 
1755 he offered for the use of the town upon certain conditions. 
The town did not then accept the offer. Whether we have here 
a clue which will add to the years claimed for the life of our fire 
department or not, the scene presented to our view, of citizens 
and members of the provincial government, working side by 
side, passing buckets from the neighboring wells, in their efforts 
to prevent the conflagration from spreading to the other col- 
lege buildings, is of great interest. The sight was to them a 
sad one. The collection of books which formed the library of 
the college, the philosophical instruments, the gifts of rare and 
curious objects, and the portraits which had been given to the 
college, fed the flames which the citizens were seeking to hold 
in check. Our interest in this scene is not confined to the 
lines of men passing water in buckets from distant wells to feed 
the feeble stream of the little tub which was at work trying to 
prevent the progress of the conflagration. The contrast with 
the rapid throbs of the powerful engines of to-day, which make 
the air palpitate for a mile from the fire where they are at work, 
is striking, but there is another feature which makes this scene 
memorable. Its position in time is at the end of the days of 
pastoral simplicity in Cambridge. It was not only the last 
occasion when royal officers and prominent citizens actually 
worked together with a common impulse, but it was close to the 
time when such cooperation was scarcely possible upon any 
point. The era of political activity was about to begin. The 
attention of the people of Cambridge was to be devoted to other 
topics than the protection of the First Parish. The arousing of 
that sentiment which led to the Declaration of Independence 
was accomplished in Massachusetts through the town organiza- 
tions. In this work Cambridge, as a town, lent a hand, and 
there is scarcely a proceeding in the preliminary struggle which 



THE STAMP ACT. 19 

is not illustrated by some vote recorded by the Cambridge town 
clerk. 

The serenity of the town was but slightly disturbed by the 
indignation aroused by the arbitrary legislation of Parliament 
for the suppression of the Land Bank. Its interests were not 
seriously impaired by the enforcement of the navigation acts. 
There is no conspicuous record of the use of writs of assist- 
ance within its borders ; but from the time that the anger of 
the people of the province had determined them to oppose 
the Stamp Act, the record of the citizens of the town in oppo- 
sition to the royal measures for raising revenue and enforcing 
parliamentary acts was bold and unyielding. 

The outbreak in Boston, which resulted in the destruction of 
Hutchinson's house, was deplored by the inhabitants of Cam- 
bridge, and they voted in town meeting on the 29th of August, 
1765, that they abhorred and detested such proceedings, and 
would use their utmost endeavors to protect the dwelling-houses 
and property of residents of Cambridge from such outrages. 
While they were thus outspoken in condemnation of the Bos- 
ton mob, they were not ready to have the loss charged to the 
province, and instructed their representatives on the 14th of 
October to vote against any such proceeding. From this opin- 
ion, after the repeal of the Stamp Act, they receded, and at a 
town meeting in October, 1766, instructed their representatives 
to favor compensation to the sufferers from the public treasury. 
The Stamp Act itself they declared by a vote in the town meet- 
ing in October, 1765, to be an infraction of their rights, and 
they recommended their representatives to endeavor to secure 
its repeal, and to do nothing which should aid its operation. 

In May, 1766, the representatives were instructed not to 
give their suffrage to office-holders, the purpose being to exclude 
from the council certain crown officers who were supposed to 
be too subservient to the royal interests. Deeming it important 
that the public should know what was under discussion in the 
Assembly, and in general what took place there, the represen- 
tatives were instructed to endeavor to have a gallery constructed 
in the room where they were in the habit of meeting, to which 
the public should be admitted. 

In 1767, the Townshend duties were laid by Parliament. 
The Massachusetts representatives sought cooperation both in 
England and in this country for their repeal. In May, 1768, 



20 CAMBRIDGE TOWN, 1750-1846. 

the governor required the House of Representatives to repeal 
the resolution by which they had appealed to the other colo- 
nies for aid in this behalf, and when this was refused, he 
dissolved the General Court. Rumors followed this act that 
more soldiers were to be stationed at Boston. A town meeting 
was thereupon held in that place September 12, 1768, at which 
the inhabitants voted to request the governor to convene the 
General Court, and a committee was appointed to ascertain 
from him whether he expected the arrival of any more troops. 
The governor declared himself unable under his instructions to 
call a General Court. As to the troops, he said that his infor- 
mation that they might be expected came from private sources, 
and not from any official announcement. It was thereupon 
voted to call a convention of the several towns of the province, 
to be held September 22, in Faneuil Hall, to consult as to 
the measures for the peace and safety of the province. To 
this convention Cambridge sent two delegates. They were not 
chosen, however, until September 29. 

In May, 1769, the governor once more convened the General 
Court, but they, immediately after organization, remonstrated 
with him for compelling them to hold their sessions in a place 
where a standing army was posted, and where there was a mili- 
tary guard with cannon pointed at the very door of the State- 
House, in which the session was being held. The governor 
replied that the only remedy at his command was to remove 
the General Court to a place where these objections would not 
apply, and he accordingly adjourned the session to Harvard 
College, in Cambridge. 

On the evening of March 5, 1770, occurred the deplorable 
event generally spoken of as the Boston Massacre. In this 
affair Cambridge was not called upon to mourn the loss of any 
of her citizens, but from the Boston Records we learn that a 
message of sympathy was sent, and an offer of assistance if 
occasion should require. 

In November, 1772, the famous Committee of Correspond- 
ence was organized for the purpose of stating the rights and 
grievances of the colonists. The circular letter and the pam- 
phlet issued by the Boston committee were duly read at a town 
meeting held in Cambridge, December 14, and a committee was 
appointed on the part of Cambridge, which was instructed to 
acquaint the Boston committee that Cambridge would heartily 



SYMPATHY WITH BOSTON. 21 

concur in all salutary, proper, and constitutional measures for 
the redress of the intolerable grievances which threatened, and 
which, if continued, would overthrow the happy civil constitu- 
tion of the province. The committee was also instructed to 
take under consideration the infringements upon the rights of 
the people which were complained of, and to report at an ad- 
journment of the meeting. It was also to prepare instructions 
to the Cambridge representatives. After a recess of a few 
minutes this committee submitted a report, in which a long and 
carefully prepared review of the situation prefaced instructions 
to the representative to use his greatest influence at the next 
session of the General Court for a speedy redress of all griev- 
ances. He was also recommended to ascertain if the salaries of 
the judges of the Superior Court were adequate, and if he found 
that they were not, he was to use his best endeavors to have 
them increased to an amount suitable for the position. The 
meeting then adjourned for three weeks. On the 28th of 
December, the committee placed itself in correspondence with 
the Boston committee, reporting the proceedings of the Cam- 
bridge meeting, and expressing full sympathy with the action 
taken by the Boston committee. On the 4th of January, 1773, 
the meeting was reconvened, and the committee then reported 
that the rights of the colonists were properly stated by the 
Boston committee, and that the alleged infringements and viola- 
tions were notorious facts. They reported a resolve condemning 
the attempt to make the judges of the Superior Court de- 
pendent upon the Crown, by giving them fixed stipends, inde- 
pendent of the people. 

The attempt to collect a duty on tea led to the agreement 
on the part of the patriots that they would no longer use 
the leaf. This duty was laid by Parliament in 1773. The 
dramatic method in which the inhabitants of Boston and 
vicinity resisted the attempts to land tea in that place marks 
a conspicuous point in the attempts of the colonists to resist the 
ministry in their efforts to raise money in the colonies by taxa- 
tion. At a town meeting held in Cambridge November 26 of 
that year, which was described in the records as a "very full " 
meeting, the opposition of the town to the collection of this 
duty was set forth in great detail. The claim of Parliament to 
tax the colonists was defined to be a claim to levy contributions 
at pleasure. The duty on tea was, in the opinion of the people 



22 CAMBRIDGE TOWN, 1750-1846. 

of Cambridge, neither more nor less than a tax. The appli- 
cation of the money thus raised in support of the government 
would tend to render the Assembly useless. Every American 
should resist this plan of the ministers. The sending of the tea 
here by the East India Company, subject to the payment of 
duties, was an open attempt to enforce the ministerial plan, and 
a violent attack on the liberties of America. Every person who 
should aid, directly or indirectly, in unloading, receiving, or 
vending any tea subject to these duties, was declared to be 
an enemy of America. The factors appointed in Boston by the 
East India Company, who had been requested to resign this 
appointment, but who had refused to do so, had by this conduct 
forfeited all right to the respect of their fellow-countrymen. 
For this reason the town of Cambridge would not show them 
respect, but would view them as enemies of their country. Any 
person who should harbor these factors, unless they should 
immediately make full satisfaction to a justly incensed people, 
was declared to be unfriendly to his country. Any person who 
should import tea, subject to this duty, was said to be an enemy 
to be treated with the same contempt as the factors of the East 
India Company. And finally it was resolved " That this town 
can no longer stand idle spectators, but are ready, on the short- 
est notice, to' join with the town of Boston, and other towns, in 
any measures that may be thought proper, to deliver ourselves 
and posterity from slavery." 

On the evening of December 10, 1773, occurred the far-famed 
incident of throwing overboard in Boston harbor the cai"goes of 
tea which had been forwarded to that port by the East India 
Company. Of the connection of Cambridge men with this 
event we have no record, but the effects were felt throughout 
the Province. The Boston Port Bill, through which Parlia- 
ment sought to punish Boston for the destruction of the tea, 
received the royal assent March 30, 1774. The act took effect 
June 1, 1774, and for the time being the commerce of Boston 
was destroyed. Cambridge of course suffered from this pro- 
ceeding, but on the 28th of July the town voted that the Com- 
mittee of Correspondence should be a committee to receive and 
transmit to their destination gifts for the relief of their dis- 
tressed brethren in Boston. 

The next step resorted to by the British Parliament for bring- 
ing the recalcitrant colonists into line was the passage of the 



POWDER AND BROKEN GLASS. 23 

act for the better regulation of the Province of the Massachu- 
setts Bay. Among other changes made by this act, it was 
provided that the Council or Court of Assistants should be 
appointed by his Majesty with the advice of the Privy Council. 
The councilors thus appointed were termed Mandamus Coun- 
cilors. Among them were three Cambridge men : Thomas 
Oliver, lieutenant-governor, and councilor by virtue of his 
office, Samuel Danforth, and Joseph Lee. The change in the 
method of creating the board was but one among many which 
this act effected, but unfortunately for these particular gentle- 
men, the offensive nature of their act in accepting an appoint- 
ment under the circumstances was brought to the consideration 
of their fellow-citizens at a period of intense excitement. It 
appeared that Major-General Brattle, of Cambridge, had noti- 
fied General Gage that the Medford selectmen had removed 
from the powder-house in Charlestown, now known as the 
Somerville Powder-House, a stock of powder belonging to the 
town, thus leaving only the powder which belonged to the prov- 
ince. On receipt of this information Gage sent out some troops, 
and brought in to Boston the powder from the powder-house, 
and from Cambridge two fieldpieces which had been sent there 
for Brattle's regiment. There was much speculation in Boston 
when the march of these troops became known, as to their desti- 
nation, and word was sent to the neighboring towns that the 
expedition was under way, in order that they might be prepared 
for action. This movement took place on Thursday, Septem- 
ber 1. The same evening a body of Cambridge citizens sur- 
rounded the house of Jonathan Sewall at the westerly corner of 
Sparks and Brattle streets, who was attorney-general and also, 
under the new plan, judge of the admiralty. With the excep- 
tion that a few panes of glass were destroyed, nothing came of 
this gathering of the people. The next clay, however, several 
thousands of the inhabitants of that part of Middlesex County 
gathered around the court-house in that portion of the Common 
now called Harvard Square. To them Judge Danforth and 
Judge Lee each made an address, stating their determination 
not to serve upon the new Council Board, and in confirmation 
of this conclusion each of them submitted in writing a copy of 
a written certificate to that effect, attested by the clerk of the 
court. The high sheriff of the courts, who was present, sub- 
mitted a certificate in similar form, to the effect that he would 



24 CAMBRIDGE TOWN, 1750-1846. 

not execute any precepts under the new act of Parliament, and 
that he would recall the venires which he had already sent out. 
The clerk of the courts of Middlesex engaged to do no one thing 
in obedience to the new act of Parliament. 

The meeting apparently adjourned from the Common to the 
residence of Lieutenant-Governor Oliver, on the westerly side 
of Elmwood Avenue, now known as the Lowell house, where 
the lieutenant-governor made a promise of a similar nature over 
his own signature, the concluding sentence in which is, " My 
house at Cambridge being surrounded b} r about four thousand 
people, in compliance with their command I sign my name, — 
Thomas Oliver." 

There was but one other person with whom the people in 
their indignation had to deal, and that was General Brattle. 
He had apparently taken refuge in Boston, and from that place 
he wrote on the same day an explanatory and apologetic letter, 
in which he spoke of threatenings he had met, his banishment 
from his home, and the search of his house. He said he was 
sorry for what had taken place, and hoped that he might be 
forgiven. 

It requires no demonstration to show that this was one of the 
most exciting days in the history of Cambridge. The temper of 
the people was incapable of being misunderstood. It does not 
appear that there was any collision with the troops, nor indeed 
could there have been any reasonable ground for opposing the 
removal of the powder which belonged to the province. It is 
obvious, however, that the 2d of September, 1774, just escaped 
the historic importance of the 19th of April of the succeeding 
year. 

As a sequel to these events, the town held a meeting October 
3, 1774, and instructed the representatives whom they had 
chosen for the General Court, which was to meet at Salem 
October 5, to act only with the council which had been chosen 
in May preceding. They were also authorized to represent the 
town in a Provincial Congress, and either as members of the 
Assembly or as members of the Congress, to consult with their 
fellow-members and determine what was most proper to deliver 
America from the iron jaws of slavery. This was of course 
revolutionary. The council, established by act of Parliament, 
was deliberately refused recognition, and the representatives 
were authorized to represent the town, in a body whose very 



PROVINCIAL CONGRESSES. 25 

existence would be a blow to royal authority. That Cambridge 
was thoroughly in earnest in the stand thus taken, and was pre- 
pared to defend its position, is shown by a vote at the same 
meeting authorizing the selectmen to procure a carriage for the 
cannon belonging to the town, to purchase another cannon, and 
to furnish powder and balls for both. 

The forethought of the town in providing the representa- 
tives to the General Court with alternative instructions to act 
as delegates to a Provincial Congress was justified by the event. 
Before the time arrived for the assemblage of the General Court, 
Gage prorogued that body, and the representatives, who reported 
at Salem, organized as a Provincial Congress. In the course 
of a few days they adjourned to Concord, and after a short 
session in that place adjourned to Cambridge, where they met 
October 17, and proceeded with their deliberations. Among 
other acts of the court at this session was the appointment 
of a Receiver-General of the province, to whom collectors were 
required to pay the province taxes. On the 28th of November, 
the town voted that if any person should refuse to comply with 
this act of the Provincial Congress, the town would consider 
him as operating with the enemies of the rights and liberties 
of this injured and oppressed people. 

The second Provincial Congress met in Cambridge, on the 
1st of February, 1775. The event is perhaps worthy of record 
in our annals, although nothing occurred at this brief session 
which called for special action on the part of the town. It was 
rumored in the early days of the session that Gage proposed to 
march to Cambridge at the head of his troops and break up the 
session, but events proved that it was only rumor. 

The period of discussion was now over, and stirring times of 
action were near at hand. The opportunity has seldom been 
furnished a town to write its own history so completely as Cam- 
bridge has through the record of the votes at town meeting 
which has just been reviewed. Throughout all these preliminary 
steps in opposition to the assertion of parliamentary power over 
the province we trace the action of the town. When active 
military events supervene, the town as such no longer com- 
mands our attention, but our sympathy goes forth for the suf- 
fering of some individual inhabitant, or our pride is aroused by 
the heroic performances of some fellow-citizen. 

It would be impracticable in this sketch to narrate in detail 



26 CAMBRIDGE TOWN, 1750-1846. 

the events that occurred in Cambridge on the 19th of April, 
1775, which might arouse our sympathy and siiv up our pride. 
This work has been performed with great fidelity by the his- 
torian of Cambridge, and to his pages readers must turn if 
they would learn the particulars of what our citizens did and 
suffered on that day. It will be sufficient for our purposes if 
we note that the path of the British troops, both going to. and 
coining from Concord, lay through our territory. Twenty-six 
lives were lost within the boundaries of what then constituted 
Cambridge, six of which were of inhabitants of the town. The 
militia who followed the British troops in their retreat were 
marched to Cambridge, and were then ordered to lie on their 
arms. 

For eleven months from that time Cambridge was occupied 
by the American army. The college buildings were made use 
of as barracks. The library and apparatus of the college were 
first removed to Andover, and then to Concord, where for a time 
instruction was given. The Episcopal church was converted 
into barracks, and many private houses were taken for the same 
purpose, or for hospitals. The headquarters of General Ward 
were in the house which stood nearly in front of the present 
Austin Hall, and was long familiarly known as the Holmes 
House. There the movement was planned which resulted in the 
battle of Bunker Hill. Cambridge was in close touch with that 
event, but the story of the battle must be sought in Frothing- 
ham's " Siege of Boston." The details concerning the life and 
death of Colonel Thomas Gardner, whom Cambridge was called 
upon to mourn that day, will be found fully set forth in Paige's 
" Cambridge." No man in Cambridge had been more com- 
pletely identified with the several steps taken by the town in 
protest and defiance of parliamentary oppression. No man 
could more fittingly have exposed his life in defense of the 
local government, in the formation of which he had assisted, 
and of which he had from the beginning been a part. No life 
that was lost in that battle better conveys the lesson of de- 
votion to principle and the cheerful surrender of life in its 
behalf. 

On the 3d of July, General Washington assumed command 
of the army in Cambridge. His first headquarters were in the 
President's House, still standing in the college yard, on Massa- 
chusetts Avenue, and sometimes called the Wadsworth House. 



INDEPENDENCE FAVORED. 27 

After a few days they were transferred to the Vassall House 
on Brattle Street, afterwards called the Craigie House, but now 
generally spoken of as the Longfellow House. During the 
progress of the siege of Boston, Cambridge became a sort of 
fortified camp. The location of the several forts and the line 
of the breastworks have been preserved in maps and described 
by historians. Of these works, one alone remains. It stands 
at the foot of Allston Street. In 1858, it was restored to its 
original condition, and the entire site was surrounded with a 
substantial iron fence. Three cannon, the gift of the United 
States, were mounted in the embrasures, and there they stand 
to-day, perpetuating the memory that the current of the Charles 
was once navigable even for hostile vessels, but with muzzles 
pointed in the air as if intolerant of the pollution of the stream. 
There is perhaps a suggestion of fatigue and indecision in their 
attitudes, with their trunnions buried in gravel, and there are 
slight indications of a desire on their part for recumbency, 
as if they thought that Cambridge did not appreciate their 
watchfulness. 

After March 17, 1776, when Boston was evacuated, Cam- 
bridge ceased to be involved in the military events of the 
Revolution. 

It was a curious feature of the preliminary contest of the 
colonies with Great Britain, that the people constantly asserted 
their loyalty to the Mother Country ; but contact with actual 
bloodshed and participation in active military measures in time 
destroyed all feelings of allegiance on the part of the citizens 
of Cambridge. On the 27th of May, 1776, they unanimously 
voted that the towns of the province ought to instruct their 
representatives to favor independence. The resolutions adopted 
at the time concluded with these words : " We the inhabitants 
of the town of Cambridge, in full town meeting assembled and 
warned for the purpose aforesaid, do solemnly engage with our 
lives and fortunes to support them in the measure." Massa- 
chusetts was already practically under a government of its own, 
organized at the suggestion of the Provincial Congress, in the 
manner prescribed by the charter for a General Court, but 
with no governor at its head. This General Court proposed to 
frame a constitution, but June 16, 1777, the town of Cam- 
bridge instructed its representative to oppose this movement, 
and when in 1778 a constitution framed by the General Court 



28 CAMBRIDGE TOWN, 1750-1846. 

in convention was submitted to the people, the inhabitants of 
Cambridge rejected it by a unanimous vote. 

The convention which framed the constitution of Massachu- 
setts that was afterwards adopted met in Cambridge Septem- 
ber 1, 1779, and continued its sessions there until March 2, 
1780. At a town meeting held in Cambridge May 22, 1780, 
the Declaration of Rights submitted by this convention was 
unanimously approved. To the constitution certain amend- 
ments were suggested, but the delegates were instructed to 
ratify it, whether these amendments were adopted or not. 

During the thirty years which we have just considered, while 
there had been but little change in the population of the town, 
there had been a social development which has attracted con- 
siderable attention. Brattle Street as it now runs was open 
from Brattle Square nearly to Mount Auburn, and the property 
bordering upon it was owned by wealthy loyalists. This has 
given rise to the title, " Tory Row," by which their beautiful 
houses which are still standing have since been known. The 
picture of the social life of the inmates of these homes, as it has 
been handed down to us, is charming in the extreme. Nearly 
all of them passed into the hands of the Committee of Corre- 
spondence, and the revenue derived from them was appropri- 
ated for public service. Some of these estates were ultimately 
confiscated, but others were restored to the families of their 
former owners. The town was opposed to such returns, and, 
May 5, 1783, instructed its representative to vote against them. 

In October, 1777, Burgoyne's troops were temporarily quar- 
tered in this town and vicinity. A part remained until the 
succeeding November. Burgoyne himself had quarters assigned 
him in the Borland Plouse, on the easterly side of Dunster 
Street, about midway between Mount Auburn and Harvard 
streets. General Reidesel was quartered in the Sewall House, 
sometimes called the Lechmere House from a former owner. A 
part of this house still stands at the western corner of Reidesel 
Avenue and Brattle Street. It was while her husband was 
quartered there that Madame Reidesel gained the knowledge 
that enabled her to describe, in her letters, life in " Tory Row " 
before the war began. " Never have I chanced," she says, " upon 
such an agreeable situation." 

We have now reached the period indicated at the beginning 
of this sketch as the point in the history of the town where a 




Craigie Street. 



BRIDGES AND ROADS. 29 

marked change in its career began. Down to this time there 
had been little or no fluctuation in the population. The number 
of inhabitants in 1776 was said to have been only 1586, and at 
that time both Menotomy and the parish south of the Charles 
were parts of the town. Cambridgeport and East Cambridge 
could have been described in 1780, in conveyancer's language, 
as woodlands, pastures, swamps, and salt marsh. The little 
village practically ceased at Quincy Street, and eastward be- 
tween the mansion house of Judge Dana, on what is now called 
Dana Street, and Boston and Charlestown, there were in 1793, 
according to Rev. Dr. Holmes, but four dwelling-houses. On 
the 23d of November of that year, the A\ r est Boston Bridge was 
opened for public travel. Then began the growth which soon 
transferred the centre of population east of the college. The 
construction of the Craigie Bridge in 1809 largely contributed 
to this result also. Both of these bridges were originally pri- 
vate enterprises, their profits being dependent upon tolls. As 
the town increased, other bridges were built, partly on account 
of the growth of population, and partly for the purpose of 
bringing real estate into the market. Prison Point Bridge was 
constructed in 1815, under authority of an act passed in 1806. 
It was laid out as a county road in 1839. The bridge at the 
foot of River Street was completed in 1811, and was assumed 
by the town in 1832. The Western Avenue Bridge was built 
under authority of an act passed in 1824. 

A glance at the streets and avenues which were laid out as 
feeders to the Boston bridges will show the important part 
played by these corporations in the development of the town. 
Radiating from Main Street (now Massachusetts Avenue) and 
covering the territory from the Charles River to the eastern 
boundary, we have as tributary to the West Boston Bridge, 
River Street, Western Avenue, Broadway, which was built as 
a continuation of the Concord Turnpike, Hampshire Street, 
which was a part of the Middlesex Turnpike, and Webster 
Avenue, formerly known as Medford Street. Tributary to 
Craigie Bridge, Cambridge Street was opened, crossing the 
Middlesex Turnpike, intersecting the Concord Turnpike, and 
connecting with the streets through which the Watertown travel 
could find its way to Boston. Rivalry between these bridge 
corporations was the basis of many a hard-fought battle, in 
connection with street openings. 



30 CAMBRIDGE TOWN, 1750-1846. 

The Craigie Bridge was but a part of a real estate specula- 
tion. The title to the greater portion of the property at Lech- 
mere Point was absorbed by a company incorporated in 1810, 
as the Lechmere Point Corporation. At first sales of lots were 
sluggish, but a fair start was made in 1813, when the corpora- 
tion agreed to convey to Middlesex County enough land for the 
county buildings, and to erect a court-house and a jail, satisfac- 
tory to the court, at an expense not to exceed $24,000. As may 
be conceived, this scheme was not carried out without opposition 
from the residents in the older part of the town. They were, 
however, powerless to prevent it. In 1816, the buildings erected 
for the county by the corporation were accepted, and the courts 
have held their sessions at East Cambridge since that date. 
This liberal contribution of land and money by the corporation 
was not thrown away. From the time of its acceptance by the 
county the success of the enterprise was assured. The purchase 
of a site in East Cambridge for their plant in 1814 by the Bos- 
ton Porcelain and Glass Company added to this assurance. 

Cambridge possesses several miles of water front. Its value 
for commercial purposes was greatly diminished by the fact 
that nearly all of it was marsh-land, which could only be made 
available for such uses through extensive means of preparation. 
That this could be accomplished was, however, recognized by 
the government in 1805, when Cambridge was declared to be 
a port of delivery. At that time it seemed quite probable that 
Boston and Charlestown and Cambridge might avail them- 
selves of the great advantages offei'ed by the protected inner 
basin called the Back Bay as a place for loading and discharg- 
ing vessels of light draft. An extensive attempt was made to 
overcome the natural disabilities in the way of the development 
of the region near the foot of Main Street, by the construction 
through the intervening marsh between the river and dry land, 
of a main canal known as Broad Canal, which was also con- 
nected with Miller's River by another running north from it. 
The West Dock Canal, which was also connected with Broad 
Canal, was so constructed as to furnish a place for loading and 
discharging vessels in the area now surrounded by Portland and 
Bristol streets, Webster Avenue, and Hampshire Street. The 
South Dock Canal was a similar construction near the junction 
of Main, Harvard, and Sixth streets, and was connected with 
Broad by Cross Canal, and had also a separate outlet to the 



THE REV. DR. HOLMES. 31 

river. The only existing reminder of this attempt to utilize 
our water front is Broad Canal itself, which is still used. 

In 1830, an attempt to inclose the common lands of the 
town and convert them into a park met decided opposition 
from those who were interested in the Craigie Bridge, because 
it would divert the Concord Turnpike from direct connection 
with Cambridge Street. This opposition was seconded by the 
cattle-drivers, who wished to make use of these lands as a rest- 
ing-place for their stock. There were several stormy town 
meetings, the attendance at which was so great that it was ne- 
cessary to adjourn from the court-house to the church. Appeal 
was made to the county commissioners, the General Court, and 
even to the Supreme Court. Fortunately the Common was 
saved as a park, but the contest demonstrated the inadequacy 
of the old court-house for town meetings. East Cambridge had 
secured the county buildings and shown the vulnerability of the 
old part of the town. The Port determined to have the town- 
house. A lot of land containing about eleven acres, bounded 
by Harvard, Norfolk, Austin, and Prospect streets, had been 
secured in 1818 for an almshouse. On this land it was voted, 
in 1830, to erect a town-house, and in pursuance of this vote a 
wooden building was put up on the easterly part of the lot, in 
which, March 5, 1732, there was held for the first time a town 
meeting, and in which thereafter, so long as Cambridge remained 
a town, all such meetings were held. Thus was Harvard Square 
robbed of its last claim to be considered the centre of the town, 
with the exception that the First Parish Church still stood there. 
Even the prestige which attached to this fact had been greatly 
diminished through the withdrawal from the church of a major- 
ity of the church-members and communicants. This step was 
taken in 1829, in consequence of the conclusion by the parish 
that the ministration of Rev. Dr. Holmes could no longer be 
maintained with any possibility of advancing their religious 
interests. Those having the legal power to vote were therefore 
of opinion that there was sufficient cause to terminate the con- 
tract subsisting between the parish and the pastor. The cause 
of the trouble was purely theological. A majority of the parish 
were Unitarians. Dr. Holmes and his followers were Trinita- 
rians. The latter organized a new society, which they called the 
Shepard Congregational Society. 

In 1814, a new church had been organized, under the auspices 



32 CAMBRIDGE TOWN, 1750-18J+G. 

of the college. This was the first step towards a separation 
of the college from the town church. In 1833, the old meeting- 
house was abandoned, and a new building, situated on the west- 
erly side of Harvard Square between Church Street and the 
burial ground, was dedicated to the uses of the congregation. 
The land on which the old building stood was surrendered to 
the college, which also bore a portion of the expense of the 
new building and retained certain rights in it. For forty years 
thereafter the annual exercises of Commencement were held in 
the new church. 

It has been already stated that in 1818 land was purchased 
in Cambridgeport for an almshouse. A brick house was 
erected on it, which was first occupied in September, 1818. It 
was burned July 20, 1836, and temporary provision for the 
town's poor was made in a building on the north side of Main 
Street nearly opposite Osborn Street. This building was occu- 
pied until 1838, when the inmates were removed to a new brick 
almshouse on land on Charles River between Western Avenue 
and River Street, now a part of the Riverside Press. 

The efforts to develop the growth of the town which were 
made in the early days of our independence have already been 
described. They were upon a scale of magnitude which, when 
we consider the circumstances under which they were accom- 
plished, was surprising. Bridges, avenues and streets, turn- 
pikes, and canals, all were directly in that interest. The popu- 
lation in 1790 was 2115. In 1810, notwithstanding the fact 
that Brighton and West Cambridge had in the mean time been 
set off, the census showed 2323 inhabitants. In 1840, there 
were 8409, and in 1850 there were 15,215. There must have 
been therefore in Cambridge in 1840 six times as many inhab- 
itants as there were in Cambridge, Brighton, and West Cam- 
bridge in 1790. This growth was at a rate nearly three times 
that of the State at large during the same period. This pros- 
perity resulted from protracted peace, and freedom from great 
political excitement. For many years after the organization 
of the state government there were but few events which inter- 
fered with it. It is true that the insurrection termed Shays's 
Rebellion, in 1786, paralyzed for the time being the progress of 
western Massachusetts, but Cambridge declined to participate 
in the convention which was called by those who inaugurated 
this movement. In 1807, too, there was a period of serious busi- 



MANUFACTURES AND EDUCATION. 33 

ness depression caused by the embargo. This was so severely 
felt by the town that in 1808 a petition to the President of the 
United States was adopted in town meeting 1 , requesting a sus- 
pension in the whole or in part of the embargo laws. To this 
petition the President replied, saying that Congress alone had 
the power to modify the law under which the embargo procla- 
mation had been issued. The War of 1812 followed. It 
continued the depression, and retarded the growth of Cam- 
bridgeport and East Cambridge. During these troubles the 
Cambridge Light Infantry was under arms for coast defense. 
The declaration of peace was the occasion of a great celebra- 
tion by the town on the 23d of February, 1815. The disturb- 
ances referred to above, while they were felt to be serious 
when they occurred, serve only to emphasize the fact that in 
a general way the town was prosperous, and its progress, though 
retarded, was not stopped. 

The growth of the manufactures of Cambridge does not 
belong to the period which we are now considering. The 
application of steam as a power for purposes of transportation, 
and as a substitute for wind or water in manufactures, was in 
its infancy. The New England Glass Company, established 
about 1814, and a few soap companies, constitute all the indus- 
tries mentioned by Paige during this period, which were of real 
importance to Cambridge. 

In matters of education, Cambridge had kept pace with her 
neighbors. Prior to 1800, the records are not clear as to the 
number and location of the schools, but Dr. Holmes states that 
at that date there were in the town besides the Grammar School, 
a little to the westward of the Episcopal church, two schools in 
each of the three parishes. There were, therefore, at that time, 
in Cambridge as now constituted, three schools. Mr. Paige 
gives the names of thirteen schoolhouses standing in 1845. He 
adds that the earliest record of the election of a school com- 
mittee which he was able to find was in 1744. In 1834, the 
schools were graded. Mayor Green, in his inaugural address, 
in 1853, claimed for Cambridge the honor of having introduced 
this system into the Commonwealth, and of having carried it to 
its greatest degree of completeness. 

Within the limits of what now constitutes Cambridge there 
was in 1750 a single church. Between that date and the incor- 
poration of Cambridge as a city, seventeen religious societies 



34 CAMBRIDGE TOWN, 1750-1846. 

were organized, the details concerning which have been collated 
by Mr. Paige, and are to be found in his chapter on " Ecclesi- 
astical History." 

The parallel growth of three distinct centres within the limits 
of one town could not take place without raising questions as to 
the expenditure of the public money in the development of the 
different sections, Jealousies were inevitable, and the interests 
of the different sections seemed on the whole to be so marked 
and distinct in 1842, that the residents of Old Cambridge peti- 
tioned to be set off as a separate town. This movement was 
successfully opposed by the town as a whole, but it doubtless 
led to the suggestion of a city charter as a remedy. It is 
true that another attempt was made to divide the town while 
action on the city charter was pending, but the act to establish 
the City of Cambridge became a law March 17, 1846. Under 
this act Cambridge could not become a city, unless a majority 
of the inhabitants of the town should vote to adopt the act at a 
town meeting called for the purpose. Such a meeting was held 
March 30, 1846. A majority vote was cast in favor of adopting 
the city charter, and Cambridge became a city. 

With this event the period to be treated in this sketch closes. 
It has not been possible to enter into any details as to the growth 
of our schools and our churches, nor could the attention of the 
reader be drawn to individuals of prominence whose names are 
associated with Cambridge as a town. These facts are all to be 
found in Paige's " Cambridge," a volume which must stand for 
all time as the authority for the history of the town of Cam- 
bridge. Upon it the writer of this sketch has depended for the 
greater part of the facts which he has selected to illustrate the 
career of the town. 



LIFE IN CAMBRIDGE TOWN. 

By THOMAS WENTWORTH HIGGINSON. 

No town in this country has been the occasion of two literary 
descriptions more likely to become classic than two which bear 
reference to the Cambridge of fifty years ago. One of these is 
Lowell's well-known " Fireside Travels," and the other is the 
scarcely less racy chapter in the Harvard Book, called " Har- 
vard Square," contributed by our townsman John Holmes, 
younger brother of "the Autocrat," — a man mentioned more 
than once in Lowell's prose and verse. Emerson said once 
of John Holmes that he represented humor, while his brother, 
Dr. O. W. Holmes, represented wit ; and certainly every page 
of this " Harvard Square " chapter is full of the former and 
rarer quality. Charles Lamb's celebrated description of the 
Christ Church hospital and school of his boyhood does not give 
more of the flavor of an older day. 

Those who refer to that chapter will see at the head a vignette 
of " Harvard Square in 1822, taken from a sketch made at the 
period." It seems at first sight to have absolutely nothing in 
common with the Harvard Square of the present day, but to 
belong rather to some small hamlet of western Massachusetts. 
Yet it recalls with instantaneous vividness the scenes of my 
youth, and is the very spot through which Holmes, and Lowell, 
and Richard Dana, and Story the sculptor, and Margaret Fuller 
Ossoli, walked daily to the post-office, or weekly to the church. 
The sketch was taken in the year before my own birth, but 
remained essentially unchanged for ten years thereafter, the 
population of the whole town having increased only from 3295 
in 1820 to 6072 in 1830. The trees on the right overshadowed 
the quaint barber's shop of Marcus Reemie, crammed with 
quaint curiosities ; and also a building occupied by the law pro- 
fessor, its angle still represented by that of College House. 
The trees on the left were planted by my own father, as were 



36 LIFE IN CAMBRIDGE TOWN. 

nearly all the trees in the college yard, he being then the newly 
appointed steward — now rechristened bursar — of the col- 
lege, and doing, as Dr. Peabody has told us, the larger part of 
the treasurer's duties. On the left, beyond the trees, stood 
the First Parish Church with its then undivided congregation, 
its weathercock high in air, its seats within each lifted by a 
hinge, and refreshing every child by its bang and rattle when 
dropped after prayer time. In the centre was the little Market 
House, which once gave the name of " the Market-Place " to 
what was later called, in my memory, " the village." In the 
cellar below this building was the oyster shop of the Snow 
brothers, described by Lowell in couplets of such wit that if 
they had been printed in some book of English University face- 
tiousness — some " Oxford Sausage " or " Cambridge Garland " 
— they would have found a place in every collection of English 
verse. But the two indistinguishable brothers formed them- 
selves a couplet quainter and neater than even their Laureate 
could furnish. 

The only larger building fully visible in the sketch is the 
only one of these yet remaining, having survived its good looks, 
if it ever had any, and very nearly survived its usefulness. The 
rooms now occupied as the waiting-room* of the AVest End Rail- 
way were then the bar-room and rear parlor of the Cambridge 
hotel ; the two rooms being connected by a sliding panel, through 
which the host thrust any potations demanded by the guests in 
the parlor. There was held, in the rear room, I remember, a 
moderately convivial " spread " in 1840, given by the speakers 
at an " exhibition," — a sort of intermediate Commencement 
Day, long since discontinued, — in which I, as the orator of the 
day, was supposed to take a leading part, although in fact I only 
contributed towards the singing, the speaking, and the payment 
of the bills. At that time the population of the whole town 
had expanded to 8409, rather more than one third of this being 
.in what is now Ward One. 

It is hard to convey an impression of the smallness of the 
then Cambridge in all its parts and the fewness of its houses. 
The house in which I was born in 1823, and which had been 
built by my father, was that at the head of Kirkland Street, 
then Professors' Row r , — the house now occupied by Mrs. F. 
C. Batchelder. The field opposite, now covered largely by 
Memorial Hall, was then an open common, where I remem- 



"THE BOWER OF BLISS." 37 

ber to have seen the students climbing or swinging on Dr. 
Charles Follen's outdoor gymnastic apparatus ; or perhaps 
forming to trot away with him at double-quick, their hands 
clenched at their sides, across the country. The rest of the 
Delta was covered with apple-trees, whose fruit we boys used 
to discharge at one another from pointed sticks. Looking down 
Professors' Row we could see but four houses, the open road 
then proceeding to Somerville. On Quincy Street there was no 
house between Professors' Row and Broadway, and we used to 
play in what was said to be an old Indian cornfield, where the 
New Church Theological School now stands. Between Quincy 
Street and Cambridgeport lay an unbroken stretch of woods 
and open fields, and the streets were called " roads," — the 
Craigie Road and the Clark Road, now Harvard Street and 
Broadway, each with one house on what was already called 
Dana Hill. Going north from my father's house, there were 
near it the Holmes House and one or two smaller houses ; up 
" the Concord Road," now Massachusetts Avenue, there were 
but few ; the Common was unfenced until 1830 ; up Brattle 
Street there were only the old houses of Tory Row and one or 
two late additions. On the south side of Brattle Street there 
was not a house from Hawthorn Street to Elmwood Avenue ; 
all was meadow-land and orchards. Mount Auburn Street was 
merely "the back road to Mount Auburn," with a delightful 
bathing place at Simond's Hill, behind what is now the hospi- 
tal, — an eminence afterwards carted away by the city and now 
utterly vanished. Just behind it was a delicious nook, still in- 
dicated by one or two lingering trees, which we named " The 
Bower of Bliss," at a time when the older boys, Lowell and 
Story, had begun to read and declaim to us from Spenser's 
"Faerie Queene." The old willows now included in the Casino 
grounds were an equally favorite play-place ; we stopped there 
on our return from bathing, or botanizing, or butterflying, and 
lay beneath the trees. 

North Cambridge as yet was not, though Porter's Tavern 
was ; and we Old Cambridge boys watched with a pleased inter- 
est, not quite undemoralizing, the triumphant inarch of the " Har- 
vard Washington Corps " — the college military company — to 
that hostelry for dinner on public days ; and their less regular 
and decorous return. The outlying settlement of East Cam- 
bridge, oftener called Lechmere's Point, was more rarely vis- 



38 LIFE IN CAMBRIDGE TOWN. 

ited ; but when we went to Boston it was by taking " Morse's 
hourly " and passing through the then open region, past Dana 
Hill, to the " Port," where we sometimes had to encounter, even 
on the stage-box, the open irreverence of the "Port chucks," 
who kept up a local antagonism now apparently extinct. Some- 
how, I do not know why, the Port delegation seemed to be 
larger and more pugnacious, as Dr. Holmes has pointed out, 
than the sons of professors and college stewards ; and some- 
thing of this disparity was found, even in Old Cambridge, 
between the " town boys," who represented the village contin- 
gent, and the " Wells boys," who were mostly the sons of the 
aforesaid college worthies, and who went to the private day- 
school and boarding-school of William Wells, in the rambling 
old house still occupied by his grandson, William Wells Newell, 
opposite Elmwood Avenue. I can well remember the wide 
berth I was accustomed to give, as one of the younger Wells 
bo} T s, to our late excellent fellow-citizen, Alderman Chapman, 
the rather aggressive leader of the other party; and it was 
pleasant to me in later years, never quite outgrowing this early 
shyness in his presence, to see all spoilsmen and tricksters 
fighting equally shy of that admirable citizen. 

It may be hastily assumed that in this primeval period Cam- 
bridge was the most decorous and orderly of villages. It would, 
perhaps, have been, but for one potent element of misrule, — 
something to which nothing of the present day can be in the 
least compared. 

There are now about 3000 students resident in Cambridge. 
There were, by the catalogue of 1845-46, only 458. But of 
that 458, 132 were in the Law School, and of that number 
57 were from the Slave States ; and those few dozen unques- 
tionably exceeded, in capacity of disorder, the whole 3000 of 
the present day. They indeed introduced, unaided, more ele- 
ments of marked variety into Cambridge society than is now 
obtainable in the whole university. The difference between the 
richest " swell " in college to-day and the poorest " grind " is 
not to be compared with the difference in habits and bearing 
between the average Southern and the average Northern stu- 
dent, fifty years ago. These young men from Georgia and Mis- 
sissippi had almost always fashionable clothes and attractive 
manners, were often graceful dancers, and took the lead in 
society ; but they were very apt to be indolent, dissipated, quar- 



MORAL IMPROVEMENT. 39 

relsome, and sometimes they were extremely ignorant. They 
were attracted here by the wide fame of Judge Story, and dis- 
appeared with the Civil War. There seemed to be almost no 
discipline in the Law School, — people spoke of " reading law," 
but not of studying law, — and the students of this description 
did very much what they pleased. When, after being absent 
from my native place for many years, I returned here to live, 
I asked Alderman Chapman why it was that there were no 
longer any street fights, as formerly, between the students and 
the young mechanics of the town. He said : " Those things 
stopped when the Southern law students disappeared. Hot- 
headed fellows ; always getting into fights. I was in some of 
those fights myself." " Alderman," I said, " I have not the 
slightest doubt of it." 

Some other bad practices have also disappeared, for which 
the Southern students were not altogether responsible. Al- 
though the average age of the undergraduates was then a year 
or two younger than now, — I was the youngest in my class 
and was not eighteen at graduation, — yet the moral standard 
was in some respects not so high as to-day. If there was not 
then more dissipation in proportion to the numbers, it certainly 
was more visible. Public opinion, even in college itself, would 
not now tolerate the spectacle already mentioned, of members 
of the " College Company " staggering out of the ranks and 
falling by the wayside, or of members of the graduating class 
clustered about Liberty-Tree, on the afternoon of Class Day, 
welcoming all other students to their buckets of punch. To 
quote Alderman Chapman once more, I asked him once how 
long since he had seen a Harvard student intoxicated, by day- 
light at least. I knew that his business called him through 
Harvard Square constantly. He said : " Hardly since I can re- 
member ; " when I said : " It was not so very uncommon in 
the little Harvard of our youth ; " and he replied : " Certainly 
not." Of course it is to be borne in mind that access to Boston 
is now very much easier, and that convivial meetings occur there 
rather than in Cambridge ; still the fact is of value. I should 
say in general that, even if the average standard of morality is 
no higher, the standard of gentlemanly conduct is very much 
higher ; and this, with young men, provides a partial substitute 
for the other. In the more boyish class of offenses, such as 
the breaking of windows, the making of bonfires, and the hoot- 



40 LIFE IN CAMBRIDGE TOWN. 

ing under the windows of unpopular instructors, there has been 
a change so great as to come near extinction. This is still more 
true of the robbing of hen-roosts and of market gardens, which 
would now be considered exceedingly bad form, but which was 
then a very common practice. I can recall members of my class, 
afterwards grave dignitaries, who used to go out in parties on 
autumn evenings with large baskets, and bring them back laden 
with apples, pears, grapes, and melons from the region now 
known as Belmont. 

The social orders of Cambridge were, at least in the region 
of Harvard Square, more distinctly stratified than now ; there 
was then a more distinct gentry, consisting largely of the col- 
lege people and those who had come to Cambridge to educate 
their sons. In 1845-46, the whole number of resident instruc- 
tors of all grades, including the Law and Divinity schools, com- 
prised but twenty, instead of being counted as now by hundreds; 
but the families of those twenty were the social centre. I 
remember the perfectly courteous and dignified relation between 
these dignitaries and the Cambridge mechanics, whom it was 
common to hear praised as a rather picked class, and whose 
children and grandchildren are now themselves professors in the 
college or leading professional men. Lowell has testified to 
the magnificent manners of old Royal Morse, the Cambridge 
auctioneer, who proportioned each wave of his hat to the rec- 
ognized social — that is academical — position of the person 
saluted. It seems to me that there must have been something 
English about it all, for I remember that in reading Irving's 
" Sketch Book " and " Bracebridge Hall," as a boy, I found 
nothing essentially unlike types known to me at home. Espe- 
cially easy was it to identify his village monarch, " Ready 
Money Jack," with the broad shoulders and yeomanlike bear- 
ing of old Emery Willard, reputed the strongest man in the 
village, who kept the wood-yard just across Brighton Bridge. 

In my memoirs of Margaret Fuller Ossoli I have attempted 
to sketch the cultivated women who lived in Cambridge and 
were a controlling power. Mrs. Farrar, Mrs. Norton, Mrs. 
Howe, Mrs. King, and others, — of whom Miss Fuller herself 
was the representative in the next generation, — and whom I 
was accustomed to seeing treated with respect by educated men, 
although these ladies themselves had never passed through col- 



FARMS ALL OVER TOWN. 41 

lege. Yet Radcliffe was anticipated in a small way by the 
advantages already held out to studious girls through the college 
professors ; and my own elder sister studied Latin, French, 
Italian, German, and geometry with teachers thus provided. 
Some of these instructors were cultivated foreigners, who had 
been driven here as German or Italian reformers, and were glad 
to eke out the scanty salaries paid by the college. In all these 
social descriptions I have in view mainly the region now called 
Harvard Square, because I knew it best ; although it is worth 
remarking that the finest library in all Cambridge — that since 
bequeathed by Thomas Dowse, the leather dresser, to the Mas- 
sachusetts Historical Society — was in Cambridgeport, and was 
constantly shown to strangers as a curiosity ; and that not 
far from it stood our one artist's studio, that of Washington 
Allston. 

The children of Cambridge had the increased enjoyment of 
life that comes from country living. The farm of our old min- 
ister, Dr. Abiel Holmes, was next to our house, occupying all 
the ground now covered by the Hemenway Gymnasium, the 
Scientific School, the Jefferson Laboratory, and Holmes Field. 
There, with the dear old doctor's grandson, Charles Parsons, 
we boys of Professors' Row had the rural delights of husking 
corn and riding on the haycart. There were farms all over 
town, — all the way up the West Cambridge (Arlington) road, 
and also between Old Cambridge and Boston, with an occasional 
outbreak of ropewalks, spreading, like sprawling caterpillars, 
through what is now Ward Four. There were also some well- 
preserved revolutionary fortifications, — one remarkably fine one 
on what is now Putnam Avenue, — but these have now unfortu- 
nately vanished. There were ample woods for wildflowers, — 
Norton's woods and Palfrey's woods especially, — and I have 
deposited at the Botanical Garden my early botanical note- 
books, showing what rare wild flowers, such as the cardinal 
flower, the fringed gentian, and the gaudy rhexia, once grew 
within the town limits. There were also birds now banished 
which I ineffectually vexed with bow and arrow, envying hope- 
lessly the double-barreled gun — perhaps equally superfluous 
— of my elder brother. Often I have taken part in those 
May parties described so pityingly by Lowell in " Biglow 
Papers." We learned to skate on Craigie's Pond, to swim in 



42 LIFE IN CAMBRIDGE TOWN. 

the then unpolluted Charles River, to row at Fresh Pond. We 
were without many things which now make the bliss of boys, 
— bicycles and kodaks and toboggans, — but after all, the 
Cambridge village of those days was a pleasant birthplace. 
Yet in what place is it not a happy thing for a boy to have 
been born? 



THE GAMBREL-ROOFED HOUSE. 1 

By OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES. 

ONE OF THE DELIGHTFUL PAPERS IN THE SERIES CALLED ' ' THE POET AT THE 
BREAKFAST-TABLE " IS MAINLY DEVOTED TO A DESCRIPTION OF AN OLD CAM- 
BRIDGE HOME NOW PASSED AWAY I THE FOLLOWING EXTRACTS ARE MADE 
FROM IT. 

My birthplace, the home of my childhood and earlier and 
later boyhood, has within a few months passed out of the owner- 
ship of my family into the hands of that venerable Alma Mater 
who seems to have renewed her youth, and has certainly re- 
painted her dormitories. 2 In truth, when I last revisited that 
familiar scene and looked upon the flammantia moenia of the 
old halls, " Massachusetts " with the dummy clock-dial, " Har- 
vard " with the garrulous belfry, little " Holden " with the 
sculptured unpunishable cherubs over its portal, and the rest of 
my early brick-and-mortar acquaintances, I could not help say- 
ing to myself that I had lived to see the peaceable establishment 
of the Red Republic of Letters. 

The estate was the third lot of the eighth " Squadi*on " (what- 
ever that might be), and in the year 1707 was allotted in the 
distribution of undivided lands to " Mr. ffox," the Reverend 
Jabez Fox, of Woburn, it may be supposed, as it passed from 
his heirs to the first Jonathan Hastings ; from him to his son, 
the long-remembered College Steward ; from him, in the year 
1792, to the Reverend Eliphalet Pearson, Professor of Hebrew 
and other Oriental languages in Harvard College, whose large 
personality swam into my ken when I was looking forward to 
my teens ; from him to the progenitors of my unborn self. 

In the days of my earliest remembrance, a row of tall Lom- 
bardy poplars mounted guard on the western side of the old 
mansion. Whether, like the cypress, these trees suggest the 

1 Copyright, 1872, by Oliver Wendell Holmes. All rights reserved. 
Used by permission of Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 

2 This was written in 1872. 



44 THE GAMBREL-ROOFED HOUSE. 

idea of the funeral torch or the monumental spire, whether their 
tremulous leaves make us afraid by sympathy with their ner- 
vous thrills, whether the faint balsamic smell of their leaves 
and their closely swathed limbs have in them vague hints of 
dead Pharaohs stiffened in their cerements, I will not guess ; 
but they always seemed to me to give an air of sepulchral sad- 
ness to the house before which they stood sentries. Not so with 
the row of elms which you may see leading up towards the west- 
ern entrance. I think the patriarch of them all went over in 
the great gale of 1815 : I know I used to shake the youngest of 
them with my hands, stout as it is now, with a trunk that would 
defy the bully of Crotona. 

But I am forgetting the old house again in the landscape. 
The worst of a modern stylish mansion is, that it has no place 
for ghosts. Now the old house had wainscots, behind which 
the mice were always scampering and squeaking and rattling 
down the plaster, and enacting family scenes and parlor theat- 
ricals. It had a cellar where the cold slug clung to the walls, 
and the misanthropic spider withdrew from the garish day ; 
where the green mould loved to grow, and the long white potato- 
shoots went feeling along the floor, if haply they might find the 
daylight ; it had great brick pillars, always in a cold sweat with 
holding up the burden they had been aching under day and 
night for a century and more ; it had sepulchral arches closed 
by rough doors that hung on hinges rotten with rust, behind 
which doors, if there was not a heap of bones connected with a 
mysterious disappearance of long ago, there well might have 
been, for it was just the place to look for them. It had a 
garret, very nearly such a one as it seems to me one of us has 
described in one of his books ; but let us look at this one as I 
can reproduce it from memory. It has a flooring of laths with 
ridges of mortar squeezed up between them, which if you tread 
on you will go to — the Lord have mercy on you! where will 
you go to ? the same being crossed by narrow bridges of boards, 
on which you may put your feet, but with fear and trembling. 
Above you and around you are beams and joists, on some of 
which you may see, when the light is let in, the marks of the 
conchoidal clippings of the broadaxe, showing the rude way in 
which the timber was shaped as it came, full of sap, from the 
neighboring forest. It is a realm of darkness and thick dust, 
and shroud-like cobwebs and dead things they wrap in their 



THE GARRET AND THE BOOK INFIRMARY. 45 

gray folds. For a garret is like a sea-shore, where wrecks are 
thrown up and slowly go to pieces. There is the cradle which 
the old man you just remember was rocked in; there is the 
ruin of the bedstead he died on ; that ugly slanting contrivance 
used to be put under his pillow in the days when his breath 
came hard ; there is his old chair with both arms gone, symbol 
of the desolate time when he had nothing earthly left to lean 
on ; there is the large wooden reel which the blear-eyed old 
deacon sent the minister's lady, who thanked him graciously, 
and twirled it smilingly, and in fitting season bowed it out de- 
cently to the limbo of troublesome conveniences. And there are 
old leather portmanteaus, like stranded porpoises, their mouths 
gaping in gaunt hunger for the food with which they used to be 
gorged to bulging repletion ; and old brass andirons, waiting 
until time shall revenge them on their paltry substitutes, and 
they shall have their own again, and bring with them the fore- 
stick and the back-log of ancient days ; and the empty churn, 
with its idle dasher, which the Nancys and Phoebes, who have 
left their comfortable places to the Bridgets and Norahs, used 
to handle to good purpose ; and the brown, shaky old spinning- 
wheel, which was running, it may be, in the days when they 
were hanging the Salem witches. 

Under the dark and haunted garret were attic chambers 
which themselves had histories. 

The southeast chamber was the Library Hospital. Every 
scholar should have a book infirmary attached to his library. 
There should find a peaceable refuge the many books, invalids 
from their birth, which are sent " with the best regards of the 
Author ; " the respected, but unpresentable cripples which have 
lost a cover ; the odd volumes of honored sets which go mourn- 
ing all their days for their lost brother ; the school-books which 
have been so often the subjects of assault and battery, that they 
look as if the police court must know them by heart ; these, 
and still more the pictured story-books, beginning with Mother 
Goose (which a dear old friend of mine has just been amusing 
his philosophic leisure with turning most ingeniously and hap- 
pily into the tongues of Virgil and Homer), will be precious 
mementos by and by, when children and grandchildren come 
along. 

The rooms of the second story, the chambers of birth and 
death, are sacred to silent memories. 



46 THE GAMBREL-ROOFED HOUSE. 

Let us go clown to the ground floor. I should have begun 
with this, but that the historical reminiscences of the old house 
have been recently told in a most interesting memoir by a dis- 
tinguished student of our local history. I retain my doubts 
about those " dents " on the floor of the right-hand room, " the 
study " of successive occupants, said to have been made by 
the butts of the Continental militia's firelocks, but this was the 
cause the story told me in childhood laid them to. That mili- 
tary consultations were held in that room, when the house was 
General Ward's headquarters, that the Provincial generals and 
colonels and other men of war there planned the movement 
which ended in the fortifying of Bunker's Hill, that Warren 
slept in the house the night before the battle, that President 
Langdon went forth from the western door and prayed for 
God's blessing on the men just setting forth on their bloody 
expedition, — all these things have been told, and perhaps none 
of them need be doubted. 

It was a great happiness to have been born in an old house 
haunted by such recollections, with harmless ghosts walking its 
corridors, with fields of waving grass and trees and singing 
birds, and that vast territory of four or five acres around it to 
give a child the sense that he was born to a noble principality. 

Note. — The Editor cannot resist the impulse to express his suspicion that 
the " ugly slanting contrivance," mentioned on page 45, was " the patent 
bedstead and the machinery pertaining to it," described in the records of 
the Cambridge Humane Society, of which Dr. Abiel Holmes was so long 
president, as having been bought in 1816. It is pleasant to believe that 
after a long and beneficent ministry to " the indigent sick," it found an ap- 
propriate resting-place itself in the Poet's garret. See page 270 of the 
present volume. 



CAMBRIDGE COMMON. 

By EX-MAYOR CHARLES H. SAUNDERS. 

One of the most interesting spots in our historic city is the 
public Common in Ward One, situated on Massachusetts Ave- 
nue, with Harvard College on one side and Radcliffe College 
on the other. This tract of about ten acres was set apart by 
the Proprietors of Common Lands for public uses from the ear- 
liest settlement of the town. The title, however, was not for- 
mally transferred to the town until November 20, 1769, when 
at a meeting of the proprietors it was voted, " That all the com- 
mon lands belonging to the Proprietors, fronting the College, 
commonly called the Town Commons, be and the same are 
hereby granted to the town of Cambridge to be used as a train- 
ing field, to lie undivided and to remain for that use forever, 
provided, nevertheless, that if the said town should dispose of, 
grant or appropriate the same or any part thereof at any time 
hereafter, to or for any other use than that aforementioned, 
then and in such case the whole of the premises hereby 
granted to said town shall revert to the Proprietors granting the 
same, and the present grant shall thereupon be deemed null and 
void." 

As early as 1636, the annual elections of the colony for the 
choice of Governor, Deputy-Governor, and Assistants were held 
under a large oak-tree which stood on the easterly side of the 
Common, opposite Holmes Place. One of the most remarkable 
of these elections took place May 17, 1637, the contest being 
between Governor Harry Vane and Ex-Governor John Win- 
throp. The day was clear and warm, when, at one o'clock in 
the afternoon, the freemen of the colony gathered in groups 
about this tree. Most of the noted men of the colony, includ- 
ing the magistrates and clergy, were among the large number 
present. Governor Vane, in English fashion, beneath the open 
sky, announced the purpose of the meeting to be the annual 



48 CAMBRIDGE COMMON. 

election. Great excitement prevailed, and in the midst of the 
timiult, Rev. John Wilson, minister of the First Church in 
Boston, climbed the trunk of the wide-spreading oak, and, 
clinging- to one of its branches, began vehemently to address the 
meeting, exhorting the freemen to look well to their charter 
and consider carefully the work of the day, which was the choos- 
ing of their magistrates. Governor Vane's party objecting to 
an immediate election, Winthrop, as deputy-governor, declared 
that the majority should decide, and put the question himself. 
A majority was clearly in favor of proceeding at once to an 
election. Governor Vane now gave way and allowed the elec- 
tion to proceed. It resulted in the complete defeat of Vane's 
party, and the youthful governor, disappointed and crestfallen, 
shortly after sailed for England, never to return. Vane was the 
youngest person ever elected governor of Massachusetts, having 
been but twenty-four years old at the time. On his return to 
England, he joined the party opposed to King Charles, and, 
soon after the Restoration, was tried for high treason and be- 
headed. It is expected that an oak will be planted this year 
by the Park Commissioners on the site of the original tree, 
thus adding one more instructive reminder of the early days of 
the colony. 

In 1740, Rev. George Whitefield visited Cambridge, and, 
having been refused the use of the meeting-house, preached sev- 
eral times under a large elm-tree at the northwesterly corner of 
the Common, to audiences estimated at thousands, and ever after 
the elm was known as the " Whitefield tree." It remained 
standing until 1855, when it was removed by the city. 

This Common was famous also as the place selected by the 
yeomanry of Middlesex on which to assemble on every occa- 
sion of public emergency. On Thursday, September 1, 1774, 
Governor Gage sent four companies of troops in thirteen boats 
up the Mystic River, and seized two hundred and fifty half- 
barrels of powder, being the whole stock belonging to the col- 
ony, in the old powder-house, still standing, at Medford, and 
removed it to Castle William, now Fort Independence, in Bos- 
ton Harbor. A detachment also went to Old Cambridge and 
carried off two fieldpieces. These proceedings caused great 
indignation, and on the following day more than two thousand 
men of Middlesex assembled here to consult in regard to this 
insult to the people. From the Common they marched to the 



LEAVING FOR BUNKER HILL. 49 

court-house in Harvard Square, and compelled three council- 
ors, Oliver, Danforth, and Lee, and the high sheriff of the 
county, to resign their offices. 

On June 16, 1775, orders were given for one thousand men 
to parade at six o'clock in the evening on the Common, with 
packs and blankets, and provisions for twenty-four hours, to- 
gether with all the intrenching tools in the Cambridge camp. 
That night, Colonel William Prescott, clad in a simple uniform, 
with a blue coat and three-cornered hat, took command. The 
men were drawn up in line and marched to the small common 
on Holmes Place. At a signal, amid profound silence, Presi- 
dent Langdon of Harvard College, standing upon the steps of 
the Holmes mansion, the headquarters of the Committee of 
Public Safety, offered an earnest prayer for the success of the 
patriots. He closed as follows : " Go with them, O our Father, 
keep them as in the hollow of Thy hand, cover them with Thy 
protecting care, and bring them back to us victorious." At 
nine o'clock, without uniforms, and with no arms except fowl- 
ing-pieces without bayonets, and with only a limited supply of 
powder and bullets, they marched in silence down the road to 
Charlestown for Bunker Hill. Two sergeants carrying dark 
lanterns were a few paces in front, and the intrenching tools 
in carts brought up the rear. Few of the men were aware of 
the object of the expedition until they halted at Charlestown 
Neck. Here Major Brooks and General Putnam joined them, 
and the main body, together with a fatigue party of two hun- 
dred Connecticut troops, marched over to Bunker Hill, and 
about midnight began their work. 

This Common contained also the famous elm under which 
Washington took command of the Continental Army. On his 
arrival at Cambridge in 1775, he found upwards of nine thou- 
sand militia encamped here in tents, and occupying also the 
college buildings and Christ Church. On the morning of July 
3, under escort of his staff and the officers of the army, Wash- 
ington marched from what is now the old President's House in 
Harvard Square, then occupied as his headquarters, to the elm 
on the Common. The army was drawn up in line under com- 
mand of General Artemas W r ard, who read Washington's com- 
mission to the assembled multitude, and made proclamation of 
the same to the army. Washington then advanced a few paces, 
made a brief address, drew his sword, and assumed the com- 



50 CAMBRIDGE COMMON. 

niand, which he held until the treat}- of peace was signed, and 
the independence of the United States acknowledged by Eng- 
land. 

In October, 1789, Washington, then President of the United 
States, made his last tour through New England. At Weston, 
October 23, he was met by a company of horse from Cambridge, 
and escorted to this Common. On arrival, he was saluted with 
salvos of artillery under charge of General Brooks, who met 
him at the head of about one thousand militia. Soon after, he 
left the Common, and proceeded to Harvard Hall, to meet the 
officers of the college, who had assembled to receive him. 

One hundred years ago, the college Commencement was the 
great holiday of the State, and large numbers from the sur- 
rounding towns began to congregate here on the first day of the 
week. The Common was completely covered with tents, and 
every variety of show and exhibition, which continued for the 
entire week. This outside display greatly overshadowed the 
exercises of the college. 

After much contention, authority was obtained from the Gen- 
eral Court, June 5, 1830, to inclose and beautify these grounds. 
The work was completed at private expense in 1832. This Com- 
mon, so finely located in the centre of a large and growing 
population, is justly the pride of the city. Its value for recrea- 
tion and the health and comfort of our citizens can hardly be 
overestimated. 

Upon the urgent appeal of the mayor of the city in 1868 and 
1869, in both of his inaugurals, the city council decided to erect 
a monument upon the Common in honor of the soldiers and 
sailors of Cambridge, who gave up their lives in the War of 
the Rebellion. The corner-stone of the memorial was laid 
June 17, 1869, with appropriate ceremonies, the mayor making 
the principal address, after which the bells were rung and na- 
tional airs played by the band and chimed upon the bells in 
Christ Church. The exercises were closed by the firing of a 
national salute. A roll of honor with the names engrossed 
on parchment, of all the men sent by Cambridge to the 
war, was deposited with other documents in the copper box in 
the corner-stone. The monument was finished the following: 
spring, and dedicated July 13, 1870. The exercises included 
an address by the mayor and an oration by Rev. Alexander 
McKenzie. 



THREE HUGE WAR-DOGS. 51 

On May 1, 1876, a centennial tree, raised from the seed of 
the Washington Elm by Mr. John Owen, was presented to the 
city, and planted on the westerly side of the Common with suit- 
able exercises. Several thousand persons were present, together 
with the city government, and among the features of the occa- 
sion were an address by the mayor and an original hymn sung 
by the children of the public schools. 

In 1882, a fine bronze statue of John Bridge, in Puritan 
costume, one of the most prominent of the early settlers of 
the town, selectman from 1635 to 1652, and representative for 
several terms in the General Court, and deacon of the First 
Church, was presented to the city by his descendant, Samuel J. 
Bridge, and erected in the northeasterly corner of the Common. 
It was dedicated November 28, after an interesting address by 
Colonel Thomas Wentworth Higginson and remarks by the 
mayor, President Eliot, and General Charles Devens. 

Each Memorial Day finds a large concourse assembled around 
the soldiers' monument with the members of the various posts 
of the Grand Army, to listen to eulogy and song, while the early 
flowers of spring are liberally strewed about it. As the throng 
passes from this interesting spot, the question is often asked : 
" What is the history of these cannon that are grouped around 
the monument ? " These three huge war-dogs came into the 
possession of the city by a vote of the legislature, passed 
March 31, 1875, as follows : " Resolved, That there be granted 
and transferred to the city of Cambridge the three old Brit- 
ish cannon and their carriages now in the State Arsenal yard 
in said city, provided said city shall furnish a suitable platform 
for them in the Cambridge Common, the first camp ground of 
the Revolution, and keep said cannon thereon in good condition 
forever." These cannon were about to be transferred to the 
state grounds at Framingham, but the passage of this vote 
gave them a permanent place on the Common. Two of them 
are British guns, and have the broad arrow-mark of England. 
The other, probably taken at Quebec in 1745, is of French 
manufacture. All bear evidence of great age. They belong- 
to those captured by Ethan Allen at Crown Point in 1775, 
which were ordered to be transported to Cambridge to be used 
in the siege of Boston. 

General Knox was a great favorite of Washington, and to 
him was given the execution of the order to remove one hun- 



52 CAMBRIDGE COMMON. 

dred of the heavy cannon, captured by Allen, from Crown Point 
to Cambridge. The cannon and mortars were loaded on forty- 
two strong sleds, and dragged slowly along by eighty yoke of 
oxen. The route was from Lake George to Kinderhook in New 
York, and thence by way of Great Barrington to Springfield, 
where fresh oxen were provided. The roads were bad, and 
the train could not proceed without snow. Fortunately, the 
roads soon became passable, and the strange procession wound 
its tedious way through the hills of western Massachusetts down 
to the sea. The cannon were too cumbersome for field use, but 
were especially adapted for siege-guns, which Washington stood 
greatly in need of for the seven miles of redoubts around Bos- 
ton. After the British evacuated Boston, the cannon were left 
mounted in the forts overlooking the city, and these are the 
remnants of those Revolutionary relics. The French piece 
probably came into possession of the British at the conquest 
of Canada, and was transferred to Crown Point for its defense 
at the beginning of the Revolution. 

We have thus in these cannon three valuable relics which, 
under Washington, were used for our defense, and they remind 
us forcibly of the remote past under the colonial government. 
Although unfitted for use in war, they have at last, by the 
courtesy of the State, found an appropriate resting-place, and 
are destined to keep peaceful vigil through the dim future over 
the first camp ground of the Revolution, — the spot where 
Washington and his generals organized that gallant army which, 
after years of struggle and vicissitude, won for the nation a 
glorious victory. 



CAMBRIDGE A CITY. 

By GEORGE RUFUS COOK. 

"Dante might choose his home in all the wide, beautiful world ; but to 
be out of the streets of Florence was exile to him. Socrates never cared to 
go beyond the bounds of Athens. The great universal heart welcomes the 
city as a natural growth of the eternal forces." — F. B. Sanborn. 

" ' Rome, Venice, Cambridge ! ' I take it for an ascending scale, Rome 
being the first step and Cambridge the glowing apex. But you would n't 
know Cambridge — with its railroad, and its water-works, and its new 
houses." — J.R.Lowell. [1856.] 

There were three memorable Cambridge clays in 1846. On 
the 17th of March, Governor Briggs signed the legislative act, 
which incorporated the City of Cambridge. On the 30th day 
of the same month, the voters of Cambridge adopted this act. 
On May 4, the first city government was inaugurated, and the 
career of Cambridge as a chartered municipality began. 

It is the purpose of this chapter to indicate the progress 
which Cambridge has made in municipal unity, and the growth 
and prosperity which have resulted from municipal action and 
direction, rather than to dwell upon the results of private effort 
during the past fifty years. In other chapters of this volume, 
other writers have told of the achievements in the field of pri- 
vate enterprise ; but here the work of the people as a municipal 
organism will be described, although necessarily in a brief 
manner. 

Compared with European standards of highly developed 
municipal life, Cambridge has few great results to show for its 
fifty years of charter existence ; but as a type of the modern 
American city of the class approximating 100,000 population, 
it is of special interest. Here the student of American munici- 
pal methods may trace the rise and sure progress of a fine civic 
spirit; here may be seen the gradual abandonment of those 
sectional jealousies so characteristic of American towns a half 



54 CAMBRIDGE A CITY. 

century and more ago, and the progress of the spirit of munici- 
pal unity which is taking its place. If a genius for bold and 
comprehensive schemes for the development of the city's natural 
resources, through the united and public action of the people, 
cannot be pointed to as the characteristic, so far, of the charter 
life of Cambridge, there can be found, at least, hopeful signs all 
through the past fifty years of an evolution of the municipal idea 
which is now beginning to make Cambridge both prosperous and 
famous. Well-directed, organized municipal energy has thus 
far nowhere characterized the growth of American municipali- 
ties ; but in the new civic awakening which is now taking place 
in our country, in the application of scientific methods to 
the solution of the new problems created by dense population 
groups, and especially in the permanent elimination from its 
municipal life of that irritating factor, the legalized public 
dram-shop, Cambridge may well be pointed out as an illustra- 
tion of the highest standard yet reached by American urban 
dwellers. 

Fifty years ago, that portion of the New England people 
which lived within the limits of Cambridge received the idea — 
although faintly and imperfectly at first — of a municipal organ- 
ism which should be responsible for the general welfare of the 
community. It was by no means a Cambridge idea, and the 
people appear to have adopted it with reluctance, and only after 
long debate. Boston had had a charter life of nearly a quarter 
of a century before the movement to imitate its example began 
in the neighboring towns. Of these Iioxbury led the way, its 
charter having been granted by the legislature and accepted by 
its people five days before the corresponding action was taken 
in Cambridge. A year later, Charlestown illustrated the general 
tendency by likewise becoming a city. Before this charter agi- 
tation of 1846, there had been no new cities in Massachusetts 
since the incorporation of Salem and Lowell in 1836. But fol- 
lowing the example of Boston's three little neighbors, New Bed- 
ford became a city in 1847, Worcester in 1848, and Lynn in 
1850. Then came Newbury port in 1851, Springfield in 1852, 
Lawrence in 1853, Fall River in 1854, and so the list has length- 
ened, year by year. With the exception of the three early ven- 
tures of Boston, Salem, and Lowell, the era of Massachusetts 
municipalities may be said to have begun in 1846. 

The rapid increase in the population and property of Cam- 



A MORE PERFECT UNION. 55 

bridge in the years immediately preceding the adoption of the 
charter was the main reason for the change in its form of 
government. From the national census of 1840 to the assess- 
ors' census of 1845 there had been an increase of 48 per cent, 
in the population, — a larger percentage than is recorded in any 
other five-year period of the history of Cambridge. With this 
remarkable growth in population there had also been an increase 
of 32 per cent, in the town's valuation. In 1845, the adminis- 
trative methods of the old town-meeting form of government 
were strained to meet the community needs of 12,490 people, 
and even then these needs were inadequately supplied. 

We are not now concerned, however, so much in the outward 
change in the form of government made by the people in 1846, 
as we are with the new conception of municipal life which had 
its birth at that time. The great increase in population and 
wealth in the years immediately preceding the charter year had 
taken place largely in Cambridgeport and East Cambridge. 
The tendency of the centre of population toward West Boston 
Bridge had always been regarded with ill favor by the conser- 
vative people who formed the colony around Harvard College, 
and when, in 1832, this tendency was emphasized by the erec- 
tion of the new town-house on Norfolk Street and the consequent 
final adjournment of the town meeting from the Old Village to 
the Port, open and determined attempts to divide the town were 
made. These efforts to secede were met, on the other side, by 
a determination to effect " a more perfect union." And thus a 
desire for better municipal service and a closer municipal unity 
found expression on the 30th day of Mai'ch, 1846, in the ac- 
ceptance of the charter by a vote of 645 to 224. 

But the new desire found many discouragements. To unify 
the apparently diverse interests of the Old Village, the Port, 
and the Point, fifty years ago, was no easy task. The division 
of the young city into separate communities — " unavoidably 
accented by Nature," as one writer has said — was so marked 
that it was not surprising to find those who believed that the 
villages had no common interests which demanded a common 
government. Communication between the three communities 
was slow, and at some seasons of the year even difficult. In the 
school system the idea of town division had been carefully pre- 
served, even to the extent of maintaining three high schools. 
The fire department, although a unit in name, was composed 



56 CAMBRIDGE A CITY. 

of volunteers, who not infrequently emphasized their sections 
to the detriment of the town. Thus through all the departments 
of the young city government the sectional idea was conspicu- 
ous, and the facts here cited as illustrations can be easily sup- 
plemented in large numbers by the recollection of any old 
resident. 

The desire for better municipal service was likewise met by 
many discouragements. If we have in mind modern municipal 
standards, we must confess that Cambridge began its career as 
a city poorly equipped to provide for the common needs of the 
people. No one now questions that the building and mainte- 
nance of bridges across the Charles Ri«ver is a proper municipal 
function ; yet in 1846, instead of being city property, the two 
principal bridges to Boston were owned by private corporations, 
authorized to exact tolls for their use. Not until 1858, and 
when tolls amounting to upwards of two millions of dollars had 
been paid, did these bridges become free municipal property. 

It would require a long story to tell all that the young city 
of Cambridge failed to provide for its people which now, by 
universal assent, is demanded of every modern municipality. 
We may indicate some of these failures, in the briefest possible 
way. The streets were unpaved, unmacadamized, uncurbed, 
unlighted, and unprotected from furious and reckless driving 
by Boston pleasure-seekers inspired with Cambridge " refresh- 
ments." One of the most conspicuous acts of Mayor Green 
during his first year was to break up the common practice of 
pasturing cows in the streets. The city gave to the citizens but 
little protection from the acts of lawless persons, and while it 
cannot be said that lawlessness prevailed, it must be admitted 
that the safety of person and property then depended far more 
upon individual vigilance and less upon municipal police protec- 
tion than at present. The police department was organized in 
the summer of 1846. 

Protection from fire was inadequate, — extremely so, when 
modern standards of efficiency are taken for comparison. In 
1847, the old volunteer fire companies were superseded by 
an organization of which our present fire department is the 
culmination. 

In 1846, Cambridge was a city of wells and cesspools, built 
and maintained by the individual real-estate owners. The 
building of the first sewer by assessment was under the town in 



EARLY EXPENSES. 57 

1845 ; but the ordinance in relation to common sewers, estab- 
lishing a sewer system, was not passed until 1852. It was in 
1865 — nineteen years after the acceptance of the charter — 
that the city assumed the function of supplying drinking-water 
to its inhabitants. 

The new city of 1846 had no street-cleaning nor garbage- 
removal service. Its arrangements for the prevention of epi- 
demic diseases were crude and inadequate. There were few if 
any regulations of house-building and occupancy. Public parks 
were scarcely dreamed of. The municipal burial grounds were 
forbidding in appearance and insufficient in size. The old town- 
house was wholly inadequate for municipal uses. There was no 
public library ; no engineering department ; no municipal am- 
bulance for the injured ; and no free text-books for the youth. 
And yet the property of Cambridge in 1846 was taxed at the 
rate of $5 on $1000. It might, indeed, be a natural ques- 
tion to ask why this comparatively high rate was necessary, and 
for what purposes the young city needed the revenue thus 
raised. As an answer to this, and also as an indication of 
what manner and amount of service the municipal government 
of 1846 afforded, the following table of the expenses of the 
town and city from March 1, 1846, to March 1, 1847, is 
given : — 

Almshouse and roads $11,035.68 

Instruction of schools ...... 13,089.05 

Repairs, etc., of schoolhouses ..... 1,865.26 

Burial grounds ....... 108.38 

Interest and bank discounts 1,376.00 

Poll tax to enginemen ...... 177.00 

Bell-ringing 135.00 

Repairs of bridges ....... 1,493.23 

Salaries of city officers ...... 1,900.00 

Police and watch 2,017.71 

Fire department ....... 2,751.61 

Reservoirs and drains 13.71 

Incidental expenses 4,685.93 

Fuel for schools 30.12 

Board of health . . 46.66 



$40,725.34 

If the population of Cambridge in its first charter year is 
estimated at 13,000, the amount expended per inhabitant by the 
municipality for all the service rendered was $3.13. By refer- 



58 



CAMBRIDGE A CITY, 



ence to this table of expenditures it will be seen what the con- 
ception of municipal government was in 1846. Cambridge held 
itself responsible for the education of its youth and for the care 
of its destitute. There was also a languid attempt to furnish 
protection to the property and lives of its inhabitants through 
police and fire departments, and here, in great measure, the 
functions of a municipal government, as then conceived, ended. 
All other means of administering to the necessities, the comfort, 
or the happiness of the people, were left to individual or corpo- 
rate effort, and what those agencies failed to supply was left 
unsupplied. 

Let us now pass to a consideration of the present attainments 
of the municipality of Cambridge. We have seen the expenses 
of the first charter year in detail. It will be well also to ex- 
amine the municipal expenses of the year 1895, which closes 
the first half century. They were as follows : — 



Ambulance department 

Assessors' department 

Auditing department 

Bridge department 

Cemetery department . 

City clerk department 

City messenger department . 

Civil service department 

Clerk of committee department 

Election expenses 

Engineering department 

Executive department 

Fire department 

Health department 

Incidental expenses 

Inspection of milk and vinegar . 

Inspection of provisions 

Inspection of wires . 

Interest ..... 

Lamps department 

Land damages 

Law department 

Poor relief .... 

Parks ..... 

Plumbers' examiner's department 

Police department 

Public library 

Public buildings 

School maintenance 



. 82,269.15 

12,797.40 

. 3,352.03 

12,473.03 

. 16,999.40 

6,404.25 

. 2,645.92 

275.00 

. 3,708.47 

9,476.60 

. 22,743.52 

5,362.15 

. 82,171.99 

11,482.98 

. 14,514.68 

1,388.14 

747.89 

10,399.82 

118,099.84 

69,926.61 

. 24,275.13 

3,970.45 

100,811.33 

222,475.05 

153.81 

110,784.22 

21,064.83 

154,289.89 

258,766.08 



MR. BRYCE'S TESTS. 59 

Sealer of weights and measures .... 1,491.29 

Sewers 87,553.59 

Sinking fund 106,940.00 

State aid 23,159.91 

Stationery and printing 2,843.14 

Street department 223,205.21 

Treasury 13,471.50 

Water-works 758,054.81 

Total ©2,520,579.11 

The state census of 1895 found the population of Cambridge 
to be 81,643. At the close of the half century, therefore, we 
find the municipal expenses to be $30.87 per inhabitant, as 
compared with $3.13 for the first year. There were in 1895 
extraordinary expenses for the extension of the water-supply 
system and for parks, which raise the total municipal expendi- 
tures above the average of the years immediately preceding ; but 
yet this sum of $30.87 may fairly be set against the $3.13 as 
illustrating the extent which has been reached in the munici- 
palization of the people's energy and resources. It is also 
necessary to state in this connection, that the city at the end 
of its fifty years of charter life owns real estate valued at about 
three millions of dollars. The net funded city debt, exclusive 
of the water debt at the close of the fiscal year of 1895, was 
$2,244,183. The tax rate in 1895 was $15.70 on $1,000 of full 
valuation, and the total amount of real and personal property 
was $80,911,060. The tax rate in 1846 was $5 ; the total val- 
uation $9,312,481, and the city debt $22,000. In 1846, the 
municipal debt amounted to .0023 of the wealth of the city ; 
in 1895, the debt amounted to .0277 of the city's wealth. 

It was not intended that this chapter should be a compilation 
of figures, nor even a mere directory of municipal improvements. 
It seems necessary, however, that these comparative statistics 
which have been recorded should be set down in order that the 
main purpose of the chapter may be carried out. Mr. James 
Bryce, in his elaborate review of the workings of American 
municipal government, says : " Two tests of practical efficiency 
may be applied to the government of a city : What does it pro- 
vide for the people, and What does it cost the people?" The 
facts which have burdened this chapter will answer to a con- 
siderable extent, so far as Cambridge is concerned, these two 
practical questions. 



60 CAMBRIDGE A CITY. 

Considered historically, the fifty years of Cambridge charter 
life — the working lifetime of a man — has shown a most grati- 
fying, even a wonderful development in municipal service. 
Considered comparatively with the present efficiency of other 
cities in Massachusetts and in the other States, the showing 
which Cambridge makes is also most gratifying. But this 
chapter would be unduly prolonged if we were to enter into a 
study of this latter point. 

As for the spirit of municipal unity which has so wonderfully 
developed in these charter years, we may well indulge ourselves 
in a further consideration. We have seen how the spirit of 
division and village independence predominated fifty years ago. 
Perhaps, as has already been suggested, the " accent " which 
nature placed upon this division was the chief cause of the un- 
fortunate sectional feeling which then prevailed and influenced 
all municipal action. Marshes and woodlands " interposed, 
made enemies of those who else like kindred drops would 
mingle into one." Bad roads — those great obstacles to civili- 
zation — kept the Old Villagers, the "Porters," and the 
" Pointers " apart. Especially was this condition then consid- 
ered by the residents of the Old Village necessary to continue 
what Chronicler Holmes at the beginning of the century had 
described as " eminently combining the tranquillity of philo- 
sophic solitude with the choicest pleasures and advantages of 
refined society." Years ago, Sir Charles Dilke wrote : " Our 
English universities have not about them the classic repose, the 
air of study, which belongs to Cambridge, Massachusetts. Even 
the English Cambridge has a breathing street or two, and a 
weekly market-day ; while Cambridge in New England is one 
great academic grove, buried in a philosophic calm which our 
universities cannot rival as long as men resort to them for other 
purposes than work." 

But the day of village isolation and philosophic calm is passed. 
Gradually the boundary lines of the three communities have 
widened from the three centres of activity, — like the widening 
ripples from the pebbles cast into the placid bosom of our Fresh 
Pond, — until these lines have met, mingled, and disappeared. 
Bad roads were made good ; street cars began their civilizing 
mission ; sidewalks were built. The playful plaint of Lowell 
in a letter to Leslie Stephen written in 1871 is suggestive of 
the change : " The city has crept up to me, curbstones are feel- 



SECTIONAL LINES LOST. 61 

ing after and swooping upon the green edges of the roads, and 
the calf I used to carry is grown to a bull." 

It is, of course, a matter of opinion how far now the old sec- 
tional feeling prevails. It is outside the scope of this chapter 
to discuss the social conditions of Cambridge, and it might be 
asserted by some that in social life the old sectional distinctions 
are still maintained. Yet even here it must be confessed that 
sectional feeling is now based more upon a tradition than upon 
any present distinction, and that it is growing weaker as the 
years pass. But so far as municipal action is concerned, the 
close of the first half century of charter life finds sectional 
and ward lines nearly obliterated. Especially is this to be seen 
in the two greatest municipal enterprises in which Cambridge 
ever en^a^ed. 

To the water-supply system and the park system, separate 
chapters are devoted elsewhere in this volume. A considera- 
tion of but a single phase in the development of these enter- 
prises is here intended, and that merely as an illustration of 
municipal unity of action. The Water Board consists of five 
commissioners, that number having originally been fixed be- 
cause there were five wards in the city. Yet seldom, in the 
composition of this board, has the ward representative idea been 
insisted upon, and never, perhaps, have ward considerations 
controlled the greater enterprises of this department of city 
works. In the establishment and extension of the water-supply 
system the needs of no less a factor than the city as a whole 
have been studied, and the work has been prosecuted upon this 
line. The same quality and quantity of water (so far as topo- 
graphical conditions would permit) have flowed into the homes 
of all the wards, illustrating the impartiality with which the 
rains from heaven are said to descend upon the just and unjust. 
Certainly the introduction and extension of our water supply 
has been an important factor in the development of municipal 
unity. It is a fact of much significance as illustrative of the 
tendency in municipal life, that the thirteen thousand people 
who fifty years ago drank from a thousand wells have now 
grown to eighty thousand people, drinking from one common 
well. 

When, in 1893, the board of Park Commissioners was created, 
the conventional number of five was ignored altogether. In- 
stead, the board was made to consist of three commissioners. 



62 CAMBRIDGE A CITY. 

The work of this board in laying out a municipal system of 
parks has been upon as strictly a scientific basis as has been 
any of the much-praised work of the European municipalities. 
The map upon which the park lines were drawn had no trace 
of ward boundaries. The topographical features of the city area, 
and the recreative needs of the people with reference only to 
density of population, are the considerations upon which the 
Cambridge park system is based. This is notable from the 
fact that all previous agitation for parks (and it had been long 
drawn out) was based upon the ward idea. Previous to 1893, 
the question of parks was seldom discussed in a broader way 
than with reference to the needs of a single ward. 

Other lines of municipal work might also be mentioned to 
illustrate the unity of plan and action with which the city is 
now prosecuting its enterprises ; but enough has been written 
to show what has been attained, and to indicate what may be 
expected in the future in the application of organic municipal 
energy in the development of the resources of Cambridge. 

In this sketch of Cambridge municipal development nothing 
has been said, individually, of those who have occupied public 
places, or who have as private citizens been conspicuous in the 
service which they have rendered the city. It would require 
a long chapter merely to record the names of all those who 
are worthy of mention in the half century of work now closed. 
Unlike some other cities, no single name stands above all oth- 
ers ; yet there are not a few names, any one of which repre- 
sents long service, high ideals, rare intelligence, and a civic pride 
which, if found in some less favored community, would make its 
possessor the hero of a city's half century. It would be a privi- 
lege to dwell upon the service of some of those who have most 
contributed to the municipal activities of Cambridge, but this 
falls outside the purpose of the chapter. The writer must, how- 
ever, record the conviction that few cities in our country during 
the past fifty years have been so richly endowed with service as 
has Cambridge. At the beginning of its charter life, Mayor 
James D. Green set the example of uprightness, ability, and 
faithful work. In a eulogy delivered not long before his death, 
the Rev. Andrew P. Peabody called attention to the standard 
set by the first mayor and the faithfulness with which it had 
been maintained by his successors, and, for the most part, by 
all who have held public office. The memory of all this service 



CAMBRIDGE MA YORS. 



63 



is indeed a rich inheritance and an inspiration to those who 
take up the work of the next fifty years of the municipal life 
of Cambridge. 

During the fifty years of the charter, twenty-two citizens have 
served as mayor. The years in which each administered the 
office, and also the important personal facts regarding them, 
may be gathered from the following table : — 





Years as Mayor. 


Born. 


Died. 


Native of. 


Occupation. 


James D. Green. 


1846-47,1853,1860-61. 


1798. 


1882. 


Maiden, Mass. 


Clergyman. 


Sidney Willard. 


1848-49-50. 


1780. 


185C. 


Beverly, Mass. 


Professor. 


George Stevens. 


1851-52. 


1803. 


1894. 


Norway, Maine. 


Manufacturer. 


Abraham Edwards. 


1S54. 


1797. 


1870. 


Boston, Mass. 


Lawyer. 


Zebina L. Raymond. 


1855-1 SG4. 


1804. 


1872. 


Shutesbury, Mass. 


Merchant. 


John Sargent. 


1S5C-57-58-59. 


1799. 


1880. 


Hillsboro', N. H. 




Chas. Theo. Russell. 


1861-62 


1815. 


1S96. 


Princeton, Mass. 


Lawyer. 


Geo. C. Richardson. 


1863. 


1808. 


18S6. 


Royalston, Mass. 


Merchant. 


J. Warren Merrill. 


1SG5-66. 


1S19. 


1889. 


South Hampton, N. H. 


Merchant. 


Ezra Parmenter. 


1867. 


1823. 


1883. 


Boston, Mass. 


Physician. 


Chas. H. Saunders. 


186S-09. 


1821. 




Cambridge, Mass. 


Merchant. 


Hamlin R. Harding. 


1870-71. 


1825. 


1S89. 


Lunenburg, Mass. 


Agent. 


Henry 0. Houghton. 


1872. 


1823. 


1895. 


Sutton, Vermont. 


Publisher. 


Isaac Bradford. 


1873-74-75-76. 


1834. 




Boston, Mass. 


Mathematician. 


Frank A. Allen. 


1S77. 


1835. 




Sanford, Maine. 


Merchant. 


Sam'l L. Montague. 


1S7S-79. 


1S29. 




Montague, Mass. 


Merchant. 


Jas. M. W. Hall. 


1880. 


1842. 




Boston, Mass. 


Merchant. 


Jas. A. Fox. 


1881-82-83-84. 


1827. 




Boston, Mass. 


Lawyer. 


William E. Russell. 


1885-80-87-88. 


1857. 




Cambridge, Mass. 


Lawyer. 


Henry H. Gilmore. 


18S9-90. 


1832. 


1891. 


Warner, N. H. 


Manufacturer. 


Alpheus B. Alger. 


1891-92. 


1854. 


1895. 


Lowell, Mass. 


Lawyer. 


Wm. A. Bancroft. 


1S93-94-95-96. 


1S55. 




Groton, Mass. 


Lawyer. 



From the above it will be seen that all of our mayors have 
been New England men, and that of the entire number sixteen 
were born in Massachusetts. Two of the number were born in 
Cambridge, and five were Boston boys. Sixteen were born 
under town-meeting rule, and received their first impressions of 
community government in that way, while the six who were 
born under municipal charter government were familiar in 
early life only with the simple workings of Massachusetts cities 
in the period before the war. Three of our mayors were born 
in the eighteenth century, and one was born one hundred and 
sixteen years ago. Of all the number, three only were born 
since the Cambridge charter was adopted. Six have been law- 
yers, and, although it cannot be stated with certainty, it appears 
that there have been eight college graduates among them. 



II 



LITERARY LIFE IN CAMBRIDGE. 

By HORACE E. SCUDDER, 

EDITOR OF THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY. 

A clever Cambridge woman once said to me that when she 
met a Cambridge man, and was a little at a loss for conversa- 
tion, she would turn upon him with the question, How is your 
book coming on ? and the question rarely failed to bring forth 
a voluble answer. Brigadier-generals were no more common 
in Washington during the war than are authors in Cambridge, 
but the former carried the title in large letters, the latter often 
secrete themselves behind some profession or calling not osten- 
sibly literary. It may be a little heretical to assert the fact in 
a book which celebrates the civic honors of Cambridge, but 
I am none the less quite sure in my own mind that a large 
part of the attraction which Cambridge has had in the past for 
men of letters has been its comparatively village-like character. 
Authors do not,, it is true, prefer to walk on a ten-inch curb- 
stone, Or jolt to Boston in an hourly omnibus, yet the disad- 
vantages of a village have had their compensation in the larger 
leisure, the simpler social life, the roomier homes, which until 
lately characterized Cambridge. The city, to be sure, is still a 
way-station from the country to Boston, in the matter of rail- 
way accommodations, steam or electric, but the open spaces are 
closing up, the college people meet more formally, and need 
more introduction to each other, city habits are forming, and it 
cannot be long before the conditions which once charmed authors 
will give way ; perhaps by that time authors themselves will be 
changed in their temper, and will like to live in a hurly-burly 
of elevated railroads, great apartment houses, and everlasting 
chatter. 

When that time comes, a few belated spirits will look back 
regretfully to the Cambridge which called itself a young city, 
but in its traditions was after all an overgrown village, and 



68 LITERARY LIFE IN CAMBRIDGE. 

figures which are as yet but slightly historic will rise to the 
imagination as bringing the glory of true literature to overshine 
the town and make it one of those bright spots on the airy globe 
of the human spirit which is so charted as to make Concord 
and Ambleside more conspicuous than, let us say, Jersey City 
and Leeds. That fine, poetic nature who brought his sensitive 
English conscience to the New England, where the conscience 
had been more sturdily cultivated, Arthur Hugh Clough, left a 
tremulous track of light behind him as he tarried awhile in 
Cambridge, translating Plutarch, laboring and making friends 
with men with whom he should have continued to live, only he 
could not well bear transplanting. " We are potted plants here 
in Cambridge," said the witty Francis Wharton, explaining to 
an English visitor that the men of whom he inquired were not 
natives of Cambridge, but were drawn to it by its university 
and schools and kindred spirits. Hither came that poet, For- 
ceythe Willson, who flashed forth a few striking war lyrics, but 
lived almost in obscurity near Simond's Hill ; a silent figure, 
scarcely known even to those neighbors who could best appre- 
ciate him. To Cambridge at a later date came another stranger, 
Elisha Mulford, who brought with him the reputation built 
upon " The Nation," that masterly interpretation of our great 
federal life, hammered out with toil in the silence of his Penn- 
sylvania home after the war for the Union was over ; and here 
he wrought upon that great conception of " The Republic of 
God," making in these books two pillars for sustaining the great 
arch of social philosophy, an arch which he surely would have 
reared had he lived. He came, as so many others have come, to 
educate his children, debating long between New Haven, Exe- 
ter, and Cambridge, but taking root in the soil here when his 
choice was made. 

Others there have been who found their home here naturally 
by reason of the convenience of historic printing-houses, and 
who might easily have worn paths to and from their houses, as 
they carried forward their scholarly pursuits. For a long time 
the great lexicographer, Joseph E. Worcester, lived his retired 
life where now live the family of the late Chauncy Smith. 
Many still youthful will recall the figure, alert, nervous, and 
almost furtively shy, of Ezra Abbot, skimming along the walk, 
his eyes bent on his book, which he read as he walked ; the 
deadly foe of error on the printed page ; his own work in con- 




Longfei,i,ow House. 




LowKLr, House. 



LONGFELLOW AND LOWELL. 69 

struction as faultlessly accurate as his handwriting was unmis- 
takably legible. It requires a somewhat older memory to recall 
the courtly presence of Charles Folsom, who well deserved the 
English title of corrector of the press, but whose chastening for 
the time seemed scarcely joyous to the printer as he waited 
impatiently for the proof-sheets which Mr. Folsom carried 
around in his pocket till he could, after long search in the 
libraries of the neighborhood, relieve them of possible errors of 
statement. Of the same indefatigable temper in exorcising the 
black art was George Nichols, for whose aid Lowell stipulated 
when he undertook to edit " The Atlantic Monthly." It would 
be hard to overestimate the value of these two subterranean 
builders of literature. Their own craft recognized their power ; 
every author whose books passed through their hands blessed 
them, with occasional lapses, and the reputation which the great 
printing-offices of Cambridge enjoy is due largely to the stand- 
ard which these men raised, and to the traditions which they 
established. 

The printing-houses have been neighbors to the university, and 
the university has been the mother or foster-mother of authors. 
And yet one hazards a doubt if the enlargement of the uni- 
versity, and the specializing of its functions, is not less favorable 
to pure literature than was the old-time college, with its high 
regard for humane scholarship. At any rate, as we note the 
two most eminent American men of letters connected with Har- 
vard, it is difficult not to feel that they belonged rather with the 
old college than with the new university. Still, the present is 
never in true perspective, and 1896 may yet read as interestingly 
as 1836, when Longfellow came to Cambridge, or 1855, when 
Lowell took service in the college. No town or city can ever 
be barren in the world of literature which has two such names 
as these on its roll of honor, and can hold within its bounds two 
such shrines as Craigie House and Elmwood. There is indeed a 
double wealth of association about Craigie House which so heaps 
up the memory of patriot and of poet as to make each contrib- 
ute to the other's fame. The spaciousness of the house, with 
its large outlook across the reserved ground of the Longfellow 
Garden to the broad marshes where flows the river he celebrated 
in song, fitly accompanies the fame of a man who was catholic 
in his taste, and so universal in his poetic sympathy as to miss 
appreciation chiefly from those who wish better bread than can 



TO LITERARY LIFE IN CAMBRIDGE. 

be made of fine wheat. During his lifetime, Longfellow made 
Cambridge as Emerson made Concord, the port to which all 
craft put in that sailed over the seas of literature. His name 
is identified with the place, and the pages of his diary are set 
thick with the names of men and women who lifted the knocker 
on his door. And now that he has gone, pilgrims continue 
their visit to the shrine. 

Scarcely less fit is the homestead of Lowell, set in an aviary 
grove, withdrawn from too close contact with the world, yet with 
paths which led Lowell into those nooks of life from which he 
drew sure knowledge of men and nature. " Do you not wish 
to go to Egypt ? " a fellow-townsman asked the poet exiled 
at the court of St. James, " and see the work of Rameses ? " 
He replied: u I would much rather see Ramsay's in Harvard 
Square." The attachment that Lowell bore to the town of his 
birth and best life finds expression in his verse and in that de- 
lightful paper on "Cambridge Thirty Years Ago." He looked 
with some misgiving on the changing aspect of the town he 
loved, but he added to its true metropolitanism by his own close 
association with it. It is a pleasant witness to the appreciation 
of poetic values, that the builder of a new house in the neigh- 
borhood of Elmwood changed her plans when she found that 
she was about to cut down one of the willows under which 
Lowell had sung. The spreading chestnut of Longfellow's 
song fared worse at the hands of official road-straighteners. 

I have hinted at a few of the names among the dead that give 
distinction to Cambridge as a home of literature. It would be 
invidious to distinguish among the living, nor is it prudent, for 
though some names could be mentioned that may safely now 
be added to the roll of honor in American letters, who knows 
what names there are which need but a little more time to cany 
them into higher niches than now are occupied ? The alcove in 
the library which holds the books of Cambridge authors is but 
a beginning of our literary treasure-house, for in spite of the 
heterodoxy which I displayed when I began to write, I am a 
firm believer in the contagion of literature, and though Cam- 
bridge becomes more urban with each decade, there is that 
about a bookish community which stimulates literary endeavor. 
Moreover, the constant accession of fresh nature through the 
addition of young scholars to the university serves to keep 
alive that spirit of enthusiasm, of devotion to high ideals, of 



LITERATURE AND SCHOLARSHIP. 71 

regard for the kingdom of spirit on which literature thrives. 
The social life of a university town, besides, takes color from 
the strong infusion of university blood. Literature and schol- 
arship have a natural kinship with modest living, and as the 
scholar will put books before meat, so a great university is by 
all its traditions a protest against the indulgence of the flesh. 
A society in which a university is planted cannot so easily 
make riches the measure of social rank, and Cambridge thus 
will still attract the lovers of a literary life, who value in soci- 
ety the coin which is struck from the same mint as that they 
carry about with them in their empty pockets. 



SCIENTIFIC CAMBRIDGE. 

By JOHN TROWBRIDGE, S. D., 

RCMFORD PKOFESSOR IN HARVARD COLLEGE, AND DIRECTOR OF THE 
JEFFERSON PHYSICAL LABORATORY. 

The " London Nature," in a review of Dr. George Birkbeck 
Hill's interesting book, entitled " Harvard College by an Ox- 
onian," noted the fact that the author had not expatiated upon 
the remarkable laboratories and scientific collections at Cam- 
bridge, which to the mind of the critic constituted the most 
noteworthy portion of the university. 

When I, too, consider that these laboratories and museums 
are the growth of hardly more than fifty years, and remember 
that they already have a world-wide reputation, I feel that the 
genial Dr. Hill should have devoted much space to them. In 
Sanders Theatre, over the stage, it is told in sonorous Latin 
how our ancestors founded the university : — 

" Hie in sylvestibus et in incultis locis Angli domo profugi." 

After reading this, if one goes to the Jefferson Physical 
Laboratory, and looks at the small cabinet which contains all 
the physical apparatus which the university had in its strug- 
gling days, — 1700 to 1800, — a Benjamin Franklin electrical 
machine, an orrery, a small telescope, a few models, and some 
glass jars, and then turns to the modern equipment of the 
physical laboratory, with its dynamos, its spectroscopes, tele- 
phones, and acoustical apparatus, and one studies the equip- 
ment of the observatory, of the chemical, biological, and geolog- 
ical laboratories, one feels that small seed has truly borne great 
fruit in two hundred and fifty years. 

The first man of science who lived in Cambridge was John 
Winthrop, a relative of Governor Winthrop, and professor of 
mathematics and natural philosophy in Harvard College during 
the years from 1738 to 1779. One can find to-day among the 
college archives his notebook of his course of lectures. I was 



AGASSIZ, GRAY, WYMAN. 73 

interested to see what he gave to students. There were twenty 
or more excellent notes on astronomy and optics, and only one 
on magnetism and one on electricity. Professor Winthrop 
assisted at certain astronomical events ; made interesting obser- 
vations on the earthquake which visited Cambridge in 1755, and 
which was sufficiently powerful to throw bricks from a chimney 
of the professor's house across the pathway. He was elected 
member of the Royal Society of London. Count Runrford, 
then Benjamin Thompson, it is said, walked from Woburn to 
Cambridge to hear Professor Winthrop lecture. 

After Winthrop came Rev. Mr. Williams ; then Professor 
Farrar, a remarkable lecturer. Up to the year 1830, astronomy 
and physics were the only sciences to which much attention 
was paid in Cambridge. There were no laboratories even in 
chemistry. 

In 1816, Dr. Jacob Bigelow was appointed Rumford pro- 
fessor and lecturer on the application of science to the useful 
arts. He was perhaps the earliest citizen of Massachusetts to 
recognize the importance of scientific training for young men 
who proposed to enter into the professions which require tech- 
nical knowledge of the sciences. It is to him, I believe, that 
the community owes the primal impulse which culminated in 
the establishment of technical schools in America. He was a 
broad-minded physician, and represented a type of which Cam- 
bridge has had remarkable examples. Daniel Treadwell suc- 
ceeded him in the Rumford professorship. Professor Tread- 
well was an eminent inventor ; to him we owe the method of 
building up steel guns, which revolutionized the process of 
manufacturing heavy ordnance, both in this country and Eu- 
rope. To understand Professor Treadwell's work one should 
read the admirable memoir of him written by Dr. Morrill 
Wyman. 

There had been a long period of intellectual inactivity in 
science from the time of Professor John Winthrop (1779) to 
the advent of Dr. Bigelow (1816). 

Men were now awakening to the importance of a knowledge 
of science, and Dr. Bigelow's plans for technological education 
doubtless contributed greatly to this awakening. In 1842, Dr. 
Asa Gray, the great botanist, came to Cambridge, and his com- 
ing marks an epoch in the scientific life of our city. In 1847, 
Louis Agassiz, Asa Gray, Jeffries Wyman, and Professor Hors- 



74 SCIENTIFIC CAMBRIDGE. 

ford formed the nucleus of a school of science, which has had 
more influence on education in America than any other scientific 
institution. A large number of young naturalists hastened to 
work under the inspiration of Agassiz, and Cambridge immedi- 
ately became the centre on this continent of zoological research. 
The presence of this great man in our university illustrates 
forcibly the power of genius. By his reputation and by his 
personality he greatly increased the resources of the university, 
but above all he excited a spirit of research, and elevated the 
Puritan mind above the high-school ideal of a college. His 
teachings still live in the minds of matrons who once attended 
the Agassiz school for young ladies in Cambridge, and has 
prompted them in many cases to stimulate the love for science 
in their children. I remember well that sturdy figure with 
expansive brow and kindling eye which used to be a familiar 
sight in our streets. One felt sure of awakening a soul-satis- 
fying burst of enthusiasm if he were addressed on a scientific 
subject; and in gazing upon the museum which he founded, one 
feels that his spirit is with us, and that he still walks between 
Quincy Street and Divinity Avenue. 

My neighbor, too, Dr. Asa Gray, the founder of the herba- 
rium and botanical department of the university, whose work 
has done so much to increase the reputation of Cambridge as 
a scientific centre in Europe, — is not the memory of his genial- 
ity and his astonishing vitality still fresh ? Almost every mail 
brought him letters from the distinguished men of Europe, 
— Darwin and Hooker, Eomanes and De Candolle. These 
men wrote the words Cambridge, Massachusetts, on their letters 
with respect born of the labors of a modest man who sought no 
civic office. Such men are the choicest possessions of a munici- 
pality. To him I owe valuable scientific counsel and criticism ; 
and he, too, had an ever-bubbling fountain of enthusiasm and 
human sympathy. When the city forester proposed to remove 
the veteran elm which stands at my gate, an elm which has 
doubtless been a resident of Cambridge since the time of Cot- 
ton Mather, Dr. Gray rushed from his library and saved it, 
and then returned to his important labors. The tree still lives, 
and in the spring evenings, when I walk up Garden Street 
beneath the row of trees which the city owes to his care and 
foresight, I remember the active step which at seventy years 
was hard to overtake, and I feel a consciousness of that immor- 



PEIRCE, EUSTIS, HORSFORD. 75 

tality for which his whole life pleaded. He still lives in his 
works and in his trees. 

Then, too, there was a distinguished contemporary of Agassiz 
and Gray, a man so modest that Cambridge did not know it 
possessed a great man until he died, — Jeffries Wyman. The 
student of biology ever rises from the perusal of his papers with 
the consciousness that many men of far greater popular reputa- 
tion were fit only to sit at his footstool. He, too, had that fine 
enthusiasm which warmed the heart of the struggling scientific 
student of 1847, — struggling in the sense of the lack of labo- 
ratories and systematic instruction, but rich in the ability to 
converse with such men as Wyman. I can see now that fine 
profile fit for a medallion, with a face lit by the gentle glow of 
scientific reflection. When the citizen of Cambridge grows 
restive under taxation and thinks that the broad lands of the 
university should share his burden, let him reflect upon the 
possibility of having such choice spirits as Jeffries Wyman 
among his townsmen, and let him look at the scientific arrange- 
ments of the Cambridge Hospital, due in such large measure 
to a kindred scientific spirit. The university is the proper 
environment of such men. 

In 1850, the Scientific School was established, and under the 
instruction of Agassiz, Gray, Wyman, Peirce, Eustis, Horsford, 
a number of teachers were bred who, I have said, have extended 
the spirit of research over the entire continent. In the early 
days of the Scientific School, a number of remarkable men were 
here as students or as assistants. I need only mention among 
them the names of Simon Newcomb, Asaph Hall, Dr. B. A. 
Gould, S. H. Scudder, Morse, Hyatt, and Putnam. 

At the time I now speak of there were no well-equipped labo- 
ratories in Cambridge. The observatory was the only endowed 
scientific institution, and there the two Bonds — father and son 
— initiated the astronomical publications which have continued 
in such full measure. In the work of the Bonds we perceive 
the beginning of that careful physical study of the planets 
which has now become such an important part of astronomical 
research. In those early days, Cambridge, too, contributed a 
keen observer in Mr. Tuttle, whose wagon is " tied to a star." 
After the Bonds came Professor Winlock, who greatly added 
to the mechanical ecpiipment of the observatory. Few citizens 
of Cambridge who met this silent man occasionally on the 



76 SCIENTIFIC CAMBRIDGE. 

streets knew his reserve power, or the great geniality which 
lurked beneath a taciturn exterior. I remember once borrow- 
ing two valuable prisms from him, when I was a green young 
instructor, which I succeeded in chipping. On returning them 
to him with great perturbation of spirit, he instantly said : 
"Oh, I always intended to get Alvan Clark to reduce the size 
of these prisms, and he would have had to chip off these edges." 
I loved the man instantly. The observatory has prospered ex- 
ceedingly, and it is now, under Professor Pickering, the princi- 
pal astrophysical observatory in America. The scientific life 
in Cambridge began with astronomy and mathematics, and 
Cambridge has sent out the leading astronomers in America. 
There was little systematic instruction in the higher branches 
of astronomy and mathematics in 1850, but there was a strong- 
intellectual environment ; and one sometimes gets as much in 
a colloquium, even in Berlin, as in a course of systematic lec- 
tures. One should be led, however, by great minds. I remem- 
ber Professor Benjamin Peirce once remarking with a gleam of 
his wonderful eyes : " It takes an eagle to train eaglets." 

The subject of astronomy has always had in Cambridge the 
peculiar advantages of the services of Alvan Clark and his sons. 
They can be called artist mechanicians. They have built the 
largest and best telescopes in the world, and even Russia has 
been a suitor at the door of their workshop. Their labors in 
connection with astronomical research illustrate the general 
truth that the progress of the physical sciences depends as much 
upon mechanical skill as upon mathematical knowledge. 

The subject of natural philosophy, or as it is now called 
physics, has always been closely allied to astronomy, and for 
fifty years Professor Lovering gave lectures on both of these 
sciences. He was a striking figure in the university, and a 
marked example of the school of college professors which once 
flourished in all American colleges, — professors whose elabo- 
rate lectures were characterized by literary skill and dominated 
by philosophy. This school is now fast passing away and giving 
place to one composed of men who are devoted to laboratory 
teaching. The professors of chemistry also, before 1840, taught 
mainly by lectures and text-books, and the university owes 
much to the labors of Professor Josiah Parsons Cooke, who 
developed the laboratory teaching of chemistry in Harvard Col- 
lege. The Scientific School, too, has done much for chemical 



LIKE THE STARS FOREVER. 77 

science. It was there that Dr. Wolcott Gibbs trained a remark- 
able band of investigators who are now teaching their science 
in many universities. 

It will be seen from this rapid and incomplete enumeration 
of the scientific men who have given our city a reputation far 
beyond local limits, that the remarkable fountain of inspiration 
which shot up like a great geyser in the fifties has been fol- 
lowed by a stream of patient investigation in well-equipped labo- 
ratories. Where there was one investigator in 1850, there are 
now hundreds ; and can we not say that just as a deluge can 
lift a host of small craft up to the heights of the peaks once 
attained by only one or two explorers, it is now more difficult 
for a scientific man to rise far above his contemporaries. It is 
certain that with its remarkable facilities for systematic work in 
laboratories and museums, Cambridge is ready for the scientific 
genius when he is ready to manifest himself. We are living to 
a certain extent, however, upon the capital of the past ; and 
the young devotee of science, in remembering the great men in 
science who have lived and worked in Cambridge, cannot fail to 
feel a throb of inspiration in his heart as he reads in the digni- 
fied Latin over the stage of Sanders Theatre : — 

" Qui autem clocti f uerint, fulgebunt quasi splendor firmamenti . . . 

Et qui ad Justitiam erudiunt multos, quasi stellse in perpetuas peternitates." 

Editor's Note. — The Editor cannot permit the above chapter to con- 
clude without a word in regard to its author. Professor Trowbridge is a 
prominent figure among the leaders of physical research in this country. 
He has been active in many lines of original investigation during the past 
twenty years, and to him is due the principal credit of developing the phy- 
sical department of Harvard University from a mere cabinet of apparatus 
and a lectureship to a working laboratory that may well invite comparison 
with the leading laboratories of the world as to the opportunities offered for 
advanced research, particularly in the field to which Professor Trowbridge 
has of late given special attention, — electrical waves and the electro-mag- 
netic theory of light. 



THE CHARACTERISTICS OF MUNICIPAL 
GOVERNMENT IN CAMBRIDGE. 

By HON. WILLIAM A. BANCROFT, 

MAYOR OF CAMBRIDGE. 

The government of a city depends upon the disposition of a 
majority of its citizens holding the same views and acting to- 
gether. The object of good city government is the efficient and 
economical administration of a city's affairs. This object is 
often thwarted by political or private interests inconsistent with 
it. Partisanship may be eliminated from the conduct of city 
affairs, and so may the influence of private interests. It is 
doubtless true that both are rarely eliminated altogether, but it 
is true also that so far as they are eliminated there is a cor- 
responding rise in the standard of efficiency and economy. 

The distinctive feature of municipal government in Cambridge 
is its non-partisanship, — not bi-partisanship, such as is exem- 
plified by a board made up, in accordance with a requirement 
of law or by agreement, of an equal number of Democrats and 
of Republicans, but, literally and actually, non-partisanship in 
which membership in a national political party has to do with 
the selection of officials only as membership in a church, or in a 
society, or social standing, or wealth, or vocation, or peculiar 
views, have to do with this. Undoubtedly one or more of these 
considerations make for or against the election of a certain can- 
didate in the minds of some voters, as his political faith does in 
the minds of others. So they do in the choice of a lawj^er or 
doctor or business agent, but they are not ordinarily taken into 
account by most people when selecting a lawyer or doctor or 
business agent, and the national party to which a candidate 
belongs is not taken into account by the representative Cam- 
bridge voter. Fitness for the particular office, to be deter- 
mined by the candidate's honesty, ability, and experience so far 
as the voter has information about these qualities, is the govern- 




City IIai.i. 



NON-PA R TISA NSHIP. 7 9 

ing consideration. Twice only within the last twenty years 
have partisan nominations been made at a city election. Each 
time scarce a candidate thus nominated was elected, and the 
disapproval of the partisan proceeding shown by the voters, 
including a large number of the members of the party whose 
committee caused the nominations to be made, could hardly 
have been more emphatic. 

In the administration of Cambridge affairs partisan considera- 
tions have even less a place. Indeed, so far as can be deter- 
mined by the proceedings of the city council and by the doings 
of city officials, they have no place whatever. On the floor of 
the city council, or in committee rooms, one hears no allusion to 
political parties, and there is nothing to indicate that they are 
ever thought of in connection with city matters. Heads of 
departments, members of boards, and subordinate officials are 
selected without regard to their political faith, and for years, 
certainly, it has never been charged that the city's service is 
used for partisan purposes. 

Municipal parties exist, however, apparently more to favor 
the candidacy of certain individuals, than to support a given 
municipal policy. Nominally all agree, or have agreed for 
many years, to what is called a pay-as-you-go policy ; that is, as 
it is generally stated, the payment of current expenses with cur- 
rent revenue, debt to be incurred only for large and extraordi- 
nary undertakings in which the future also is to share. Actu- 
ally, however, there is a disagreement in the construction of 
what are current expenses, and there is also a difference in the 
selection of officials, and in the methods of transacting busi- 
ness, as well as in the administration of many of the concerns of 
the city. While these disagreements and differences are not 
always expressly defined, they are nevertheless clearly discern- 
ible by those familiar with city business, and they furnish a 
plenty of reasons for the eternal vigilance which is the price of 
good city government even where the division along national 
party lines is disregarded in municipal affairs. 

Accustomed to promote the welfare of the municipality and 
not that of a political party, the members of the Cambridge 
city government are less susceptible to private interests than 
they would be, were not the interests of the city paramount to 
all others in their minds. Cambridge therefore has been free 
from " job's." The corruptionist has had little encouragement. 



80 THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT. 

Another feature of municipal government in Cambridge — 
a direct result of non-partisanship — is the retention of city 
officials in office. It would be hard to find an instance where 
an official had been removed, except for cause, and happily 
there have been few such cases. It is customary also to pro- 
mote subordinates when a vacancy occurs, and as a result, there 
are many officials who have spent the best part of their lives 
in the city's service. 

The machinery of the city government of Cambridge is vested 
in a mayor, a city council of two branches, a school committee, and 
a board of assessors. The mayor, aldermen, school committee, 
and board of assessors are elected by a plurality vote of all the 
voters of the city, but each ward is entitled to three members 
of the school committee. The common councilmen are elected 
by wards. All other boards and all heads of departments are 
either appointed by the mayor subject to the confirmation of the 
board of aldermen (and this method applies to most), or they 
are chosen by a vote of the city council. Boards and heads of 
departments appoint all their subordinates, except in the police 
and fire departments, and except also in the cases of the assist- 
ant assessors and the assistant city clerk. In the police and fire 
departments, the subordinates are appointed by the mayor sub- 
ject to the confirmation of the board of aldermen, and the same 
is true of the assistant assessors. The assistant city clerk is 
elected by the city council. After due hearing, with the ap- 
proval of a majority of the board of aldermen, the mayor may 
remove any member of the board of overseers of the poor or of 
the board of health, and any other officer or member of a board 
appointed by him. The mayor is not a member of either 
branch of the city council. The executive powers of the city 
are vested in him, and he is also surveyor of highways. All 
executive boards and officers are at all times accountable to him 
for the proper discharge of their duties. The mayor has a quali- 
fied veto power over the doings of the city council, and of the 
board of aldermen : all contracts over -$300 require his approval 
before going into effect, and he submits annually to the city 
council the estimates of money required for the respective 
departments with his recommendations on them. No expendi- 
ture can be made and no liability incurred for any purpose 
beyond the appropriation previously made. To the city council 
or to the board of aldermen are given all the powers of the 



EXECUTIVE POWER. 81 

city not given to the mayor, the school committee, and other 
public officers prescribed by general law. The city council 
makes ordinances and provides for the appointment of certain 
officers, defines their powers and duties, and fixes their com- 
pensation. It also has authority to lay out, alter, and dis- 
continue ways, to take land for them, and for the construction 
of sewers. The board of aldermen may authorize the construc- 
tion of sidewalks, and must assess the expense of the materi- 
als upon the abutting lands, which then become chargeable for 
the payment of the amount. The board of aldermen fixes the 
number and compensation of policemen, and establishes general 
regulations for their government. It also has the power to 
grant and revoke licenses for which provision is made by law 
or ordinance. 

The school committee, of which the mayor is ex officio chair- 
man without a vote, perforins all such duties as the school 
committees in Massachusetts towns are required by law to 
perform. 

The essential difference between the form of city government 
of to-day and that in vogue from the time Cambridge became a 
city, up to 1892, is in the assignment of executive power. For- 
merly, it was given to the mayor and board of aldermen or to 
the city council, and was exercised through their committees. 
Now, it is given to the mayor, and is exercised through the 
boards and heads of departments, under his general super- 
vision and control. 



THE RINDGE GIFTS. 

By EX-GOVERNOR WILLIAM E. RUSSELL. 

Until 1887, Cambridge, while distinguished in many ways, 
had not been specially favored by any large gifts from her cit- 
izens for public purposes. She had been conspicuous for her 
educational institutions, for her many and varied industries, for 
her sturdy citizenship, and especially for the part she had taken 
in the struggle for the independence of our country, and later 
for union and liberty. Intelligence, patriotism, and many 
other virtues were characteristic of her people, but their wealth 
was not great, and it had not been devoted to a large extent to 
distinctly public objects. 

The year 1887 marked a new epoch in her history. Then 
began a period of larger things, of grander municipal life, of 
greater public spirit in works of philanthropy and benevolence, 
and of devotion to the charities that " soothe and heal and bless." 
The privilege of starting this movement was given to one of her 
younger sons of ample fortune and of generous impulses. His 
early life and associations were with Cambridge. His later 
years, spent elsewhere, had with deep religious spirit been de- 
voted to good works, which broadened his life out into the 
lives of others. With noble generosity and fine public spirit, 
he gave largely to the communities where he dwelt, and also 
richly blessed this city of his birth. 

For many years Cambridge had felt the need of a public 
library that would meet the requirements of the people of a 
large and growing city. At a meeting of prominent citizens, a 
committee of ten was appointed to bring the matter to the 
attention of the people of Cambridge, and to solicit their sub- 
scriptions. As mayor and one of this committee, it was my 
pleasure to make known our wants to one who, although he 
had not been a citizen of the city during all his life, had always 
manifested a deep interest in her welfare. His answer, showing 




Frederick II Rindge. 



HEARTFELT THANKS. 83 

his generosity and love for his native city, is given in the fol- 
lowing letter : — 

Boston, June 14, 1887. 
Hon. William E. Russell. 

Dear Sir, — It would make me happy to give to the city of Cam- 
bridge the tract of land bounded by Cambridge, Trowbridge, Broad- 
way and Irving streets, in the city of Cambridge, and to build thereon 
and give to said city a Public Library building, under the following 
conditions : — 

That on or within said building tablets be placed bearing the fol- 
lowing words : — 

First : " Built in gratitude to God, to his son, Jesus Christ, and to 
the Holy Spirit." 

Second : The Ten Commandments, and " Thou shalt love thy neigh- 
bor as thyself." 

Third : " Men, women, children, obey these laws. If you do, you 
will be happy ; if you disobey them, sorrow will come upon you." 

Fourth : " It is noble to be pure ; it is right to be honest ; it is 
necessary to be temperate ; it is wise to be industrious ; but to know 
God is best of all." 

Fifth : Words for this tablet to be given hereafter. 

It is my wish that a portion of said tract of land be reserved as a 
playground for children and the young. I ask you to present this 
communication to the city government of Cambridge, and notify me 
of its action in relation to it. Should the gift be accepted, I hope to 
proceed at once with the work. 

Yours respectfully, 

(Signed) Frederick H. Rindge. 

The tract of land contained nearly 115,000 square feet, and 
was admirably situated for the purpose. 

At a meeting of the city council held June 15, 1887, the fol- 
lowing resolutions were adopted : — 

" Resolved, That the city of Cambridge accepts with profound 
gratitude the munificent gift of Frederick H. Rindge of land 
and building for a public library, as stated in his letter of 
June 14, 1887 ; that the city accepts it upon the conditions 
stated in said letter, which it will faithfully and gladly observe 
as a sacred trust, in accordance with his desire. 

" Resolved, That in gratefully accepting this gift, the city 
tenders to Frederick H. Rindge its heartfelt thanks, and de- 
sires to express its sense of deep obligation to him, recognizing 
the Christian faith, generosity, and public spirit that have 



84 THE RINDGE GIFTS. 

prompted him to supply a long-felt want by this gift of great 
and permanent usefulness." 

Messrs. Van Brunt & Howe were selected as architects. 
Ground was broken for the library on May 1, 1888, and on 
June 29, 1889, the keys of the building were transferred to the 
city government. The exercises of the dedication were held in 
the main hall-way of the building, and consisted of music ; 
prayer by Rev. Alexander McKenzie, D. D. ; presentation of 
deed of gift, by Francis J. Parker ; acceptance of the same 
by the mayor, Hon. Henry H. Gilmore ; remarks by Hon. S. 
L. Montague, president of the board of trustees, Charles W. 
Eliot, president of Harvard University, Samuel S. Green, libra- 
rian of the Worcester Public Library, and Thomas Wentworth 
Higginson. 

The building is of the Romanesque style of southern France, 
with exterior of Dedham stone, and dark sandstone trimmings. 
It has two divisions, one, partially fireproof, devoted to the con- 
venience of the public, with waiting-hall, reading-room, refer- 
ence library, and memorial and administrative rooms ; the other 
division is for the storage of the books, and is wholly fireproof. 
The cost of the building was about $100,000. 

A few months after his gift of the library building, and be- 
fore work upon it had begun, Mr. Rindge made other gifts to 
the city of even larger value and of more importance. They 
were made by the following letter : — 

Los Angeles, November 8, 18S7. 
Hon. William E. Eussell. 

Dear Sir, — It would make me happy to give to the city of Cam- 
bridge, provided no considerable misfortune happens to my property 
within two years from date, three gifts, which are described herein : — 

First, a worthy site for a High School Building in the immediate 
vicinity of the Public Library Common, provided the following inscrip- 
tion, in metal or stone letters, be placed over the main entrance door : 
" Knowledge is worth seeking ; but the wise, while striving to cultivate 
their minds, strive also to acquire strength of soul and body; then 
knowledge avails." And provided, also, one other condition be com- 
plied with. [This condition is that an adjoining lot be purchased and 
added to the High School lot.] 

Second: A City Hall, provided the following inscription, in metal 
or stone letters, be placed on the outside of said building and over its 
main entrance door : " God has given commandments unto men. 
From these commandments men have framed laws by which to be 



A MODEST LETTER. 85 

governed. It is honorable and praiseworthy faithfully to serve the 
• people by helping to administer these laws. If the laws are not en- 
forced, the people are not well governed." And provided also the 
city of Cambridge give a worthy site for said City Hall. 

Third : An Industrial School Building ready for use, together with 
a site for the same in the immediate neighborhood of the Public 
Library Common, provided the following inscription, in metal or stone 
letters, be placed on the outside of said building and over its main 
entrance door : " Work is one of our greatest blessings ; every one 
should have an honest occupation." I wish the plain arts of industry 
to be taught in this school. I wish the school to be especially for boys 
of average talents, who may in it learn how their arms and hands can 
earn food, clothing, and shelter for themselves ; how, after a while, 
they can support a family and home ; and how the price of these 
blessings is faithful industry, no bad habits, and wise economy, — 
which price, by the way, is not dear. I wish also that in it they may 
become accustomed to being under authority, and be now and then 
instructed in the laws that govern health and nobility of character. I 
urge that admittance to said school be given only to strong boys, who 
will grow up to be able workingmen. Strict obedience to such a rule 
would tend to make parents careful in the training of their young, 
as they would know that their boys would be deprived of the benefits 
of said school unless they were able-bodied. I think the Industrial 
School would thus graduate many young men who would prove them- 
selves useful citizens. I ask you to present this communication to the 
city government of Cambridge, and notify me of its action in rela- 
tion to it. Should the gifts with their conditions be accepted, I hope 
to proceed at once with the work. 

Respectfully yours, 

Frederick H. Rindge. 

At a special meeting of the city council, held November 12, 
1887, the following- resolution was unanimously adopted : — 

" Resolved, that the city of Cambridge accepts with deep grati- 
tude the munificent gifts of Frederick H. Eindge, as expressed 
in his letter of November 3, 1887, to the mayor. In accept- 
ing said gifts it desires to signify to him its profound and last- 
ing appreciation of his great generosity and public spirit.''' 

MANUAL TRAINING SCHOOL. 

Messrs. Rotch & Tilden were selected as architects. Ground 
was broken July 12, 1888, and the building was ready for use 
on the 1st of October following. The late Harry Ellis had the 



86 THE RINDGE GIFTS. 

main charge of the erection and equipment of the school, and 
later was chosen its superintendent. To his constant, faithful, 
able service and unselfish devotion to the interests of the school 
and its pupils was due its great success. 

The building is of Romanesque style of architecture, and 
stands upon a generous lot of land at the corner of Broadway 
and Irving Street. It consists of a main building 70 by 62 feet, 
with wings 60 feet square. A description of the work of the 
students will be given elsewhere in this volume by Mr. Morse, 
its superintendent. 

The building and equipment cost about $100,000. The 
school, since its foundation, has been supported wholly by Mr. 
Kindge. 

THE CITY HALL. 

The architects of the city hall were Messrs. Longfellow, 
Alden & Harlow. A suitable site was purchased by the city 
government, located on Main Street, and extending from Bige- 
low to Inman streets. Ground was broken February 1, 1889, 
and the corner-stone was laid, with appropriate ceremonies, on 
May 15, 1889, by Most Worshipful Henry Endicott, Grand 
Master of the Grand Lodge of Masons of Massachusetts. 

On December 9, 1890, the new city hall, finished and fur- 
nished, was formally transferred to the city, with exercises 
simple in character, in accordance with the wish of Mr. Rindge. 

The building is of quarry-faced stone, and stands well back 
from the street, with terraces in front. It is 157 feet long, 92 
feet deep on the sides, but has a recessed court 32 by 37 feet at 
the back. The front wall is broken by a beautiful tower 27 
feet square, which rises 154 feet from its base. The building 
is remarkable for its fine proportions and massive dignity. 
Its cost w r as about -$225,000. In front and over the handsome 
entrance is placed the inscription suggested by Mr. Rindge. 

With characteristic modesty, the city's benefactor insisted, 
as a condition of his generous gifts, that no memorial to him 
should be placed in any of these buildings, nor should his name 
be connected with them. " What I am aiming to do," he said, 
" is to establish certain didactic public buildings." So upon 
each he w r rote the lesson it was to teach. But his gifts will for- 
ever teach another lesson which his modesty would not mention, 
— the lesson of a noble life and fortune devoted to God and to 
his fellow-men. 



"THE CAMBRIDGE IDEA." 

By REV. DAVID NELSON BEACH. 

Some four or five years ago, a phrase broke in upon our 
Cambridge speech with such suddenness, energy, and large sig- 
nificance as are hard even yet to realize. Who first used it I 
do not know. My impression is that our present Superintend- 
ent of Parks, then a leading writer on our Cambridge newspa- 
pers, was one of the earliest to apprehend its potency, and that 
he with his skillful pen somewhat furthered its becoming widely 
used. But whoever it may have been that first uttered it, and 
however serviceable the writer alluded to, or any other persons, 
may have been in bringing it into current use, certain it is that 
it survived and became a power of its own accord, and in a w r ay 
that no single individual or group of individuals could either 
have initiated or prevented. It was like a new star coming 
into the heavens. It was like a newly discovered force offering 
itself to the uses of man. 

That phrase stands at the head of this article ; and the priv- 
ilege has been accorded me of giving some account of the cir- 
cumstances which rendered possible this phenomenon of human 
speech, and which led up to its making itself a felt power 
among us. I am desired, also, if I shall be able, to suggest 
its sweep, its puissance, and its vast promise among us for the 
time to come. 

First, however, a word more about the phrase itself. Every- 
body began using it. It expressed something to their minds 
which had before been inexpressible. This was the secret of 
its popularity and of its ever-growing force. Moreover, its use 
was not confined to any single class or type of persons. The 
most cultivated men and women in our city, plain day-labor- 
ers, individuals of very large insight and vision, persons of 
the most circumscribed intellectual endowment, children, old 
people, those of all varieties of opinion and shades of ideas, — 



88 "THE CAMBRIDGE IDEA." 

alike introduced this phrase into their vocabulary. It struck a 
universal chord in the minds and hearts of men. 

Another peculiarity of the phrase was its indefinableness. 
After it had come into use, and had been conjured by for sev- 
eral years, there appeared not long ago in one of our newspa- 
pers a " symposium," contributed to by many of our foremost 
citizens. The purpose of this broadside was, if possible, to 
define " The Cambridge Idea." I do not know where, in so 
small space, so much good civics can be found as in that broad- 
side, which ought to be printed and spread widely over the 
country. The curious thing about the many articles contrib- 
uted was that they greatly differed. They embraced the largest 
variety of sentiments. Each writer was sure that what he 
mentioned was precisely what the phrase meant. The chair- 
man of the Harvard Board of Preachers, in addressing a large 
audience in a campaign of ours two or three years ago, essayed 
to define it as "The Christian Idea." Another speaker, also 
before a large audience in a later campaign, made bold to affirm 
that " The Cambridge Idea " was not an idea at all, but an ideal, 
Cambridge's ideality. It is not improbable that this speaker, 
like the preceding, was right ; but it is beyond question that, 
had the phrase started under the name of " Ideal " or " Ideal- 
ity," it would not have survived a clay. 

That must be a very large sjanbol of thought which could 
become, so soon, so abidingly, amongst such diverse persons, 
within such a large population, and with such spontaneity, such 
a standard or measure of civic and ethical values, as this phe- 
nomenal state of things indicates. Furthermore, there is some- 
thing nobly inspiring about it, and that quite independently 
of neighborhood. I have seen, for example, many audiences 
beyond Cambridge, and even beyond Massachusetts, gathered 
to listen to some account of what has been happening among 
us, who — when this point of the description was reached, and 
the striking circumstance was held forth of a great and hetero- 
geneous city bowing to the sway of such a phrase as this, and 
of its profound and transcendental meaning — would give way 
to the most enthusiastic applause, so that they needed, in some 
instances, to be restrained, if the speech were to go on ; and I 
have known them to express the heartfelt desire that such a 
phrase might break forth likewise amongst them, and become 
equally regnant. 



THE HERITAGE OF CAMBRIDGE. 89 

The task assigned me is exceedingly difficult. It would be 
easier to write a book on the subject than a brief article. I 
greatly fear, moreover, that I shall be unable to do the subject 
any justice. For I am to write of a subtle and spirit-like thing, 
having to do with that place where thoughts are born, and 
where aspirations acquire for themselves wings. The reader 
will readily see that nothing could be easier than almost or alto- 
gether to miss the point. However, I must try ; and, as con- 
densedly and suggestively as I may be able, I shall throw out 
some imperfect sketch of that which almost defies delineation 
or explication. 

1. It must not be forgotten, then, what a heritage Cambridge 
has. One of the first places to be founded in our New Eng- 
land ; the abode for a time of the Hartford Colony ; the home 
of that unique group of men of whom Thomas Shepard was the 
leader and inspirer ; by reason of the qualities in him, and in 
them, selected to be the site of the infant college ; the gather- 
ing-place of the first ecclesiastical synod on the North Amer- 
can continent ; the place where the first book in America was 
printed ; the scene of many of the noblest passages in the colo- 
nial history of New England ; the point where the prows of 
British boats touched the sand as the march on Lexington was 
begun ; the soil on which occurred some of the hardest fight- 
ing of that eventful day ; the gathering-place of the colonists ; 
the point of departure for the epoch-marking battle of Bunker 
Hill ; that tree still standing on the Common under which 
Washington took command of the American army ; the centre 
of the army in the fateful siege of Boston ; one of its extant 
mansions the prison of Burgoyne after the fatal blow, at Sara- 
toga, to British supremacy on this continent ; notable, from the 
days of the Revolution to this hour, for many great events ; 
the sender-f orth of the first company to be received into the ser- 
vice of the nation in its struggle for the suppression of the 
Rebellion ; an intellectual centre unequaled, on the whole, by 
anything on the hither side of the Atlantic ; the home espe- 
cially of three great poets, two of them among the greatest in 
the annals of literature, one of them endowed in so unique a 
manner as to be verily amongst the immortals : always plain, 
simple, democratic, with respect for the poor man as well as for 
the rich, and for intelligence and manliness above all other 
things, — it is obvious that our Cambridge, so favored of God 



90 "THE CAMBRIDGE IDEA." 

beyond any community in this hemisphere, ought to have been 
expected to be the place where something - unique and germinal 
in its relation to the civic and ethical well-being of this land 
should break forth. 

2. But, passing beyond the historical significance of the city, 
its large intellectual meaning, and its being favored of God in 
the bestowal upon it of genius and of poetry, we need to come 
to the nearer years. I think it would be impossible for those 
streets which Lowell had trod, and for the slopes where he had 
chanted to himself the "Biglow Papers" and the deathless 
"Commemoration Ode," to be other than almost trembling with 
passionate desire for fair play, for good government, for the 
realization of the rights of man, and for the fulfillment of the 
civic and moral possibilities of all dwelling within its borders. 
Lowell was a better singer of good politics than a practical 
worker in its details, though his practical services in several 
particulars rank high in the annals of such endeavor ; but the 
spirit of Lowell, and of his friends, in this regard, has for now 
not a few decades been haunting our sti-eets and laues, entering 
our homes, and dominating our council-boards. It is now a 
quarter of a century or more, therefore, since we have tolerated 
partisanship in our municipal affairs. Other fine traits and 
realizations of a civic nature have been long among us : the 
idea, for example, of municipal office as a municipal trust, the 
notion that the city must be administered as faithfully and saga- 
ciously as any business concern of highest standing ; various 
memorable battles as between the sons of Belial and the chil- 
dren of light in civic directions, which had stirred our city pro- 
foundly prior to the last decade ; the wonderfully tonic prestige 
of large victories in these directions, and much more to the 
same purport. All this constituted our more immediate politi- 
cal heritage down to ten years ago. 

3. It was in this condition that the city was, as it turned the 
milestone of 1885, and faced toward 1886. It had had a glori- 
ous past. That past was such as to make it all alive with noblest 
civic and ethical impulses. That past, for now a good number 
of years, had been rendering possible the abolition of partisan- 
ship in municipal affairs, and certain great and victorious strug- 
gles betwixt the baser and the nobler elements in the city's 
life. 

But now there was creeping like a paralysis over the city that 



"FROZEN TRUTH." 91 

chief modern foe to good civics, the power of the rum traffic. 
A sharp distinction is to be drawn between drink itself, and the 
questions having to do with it, and that greater abomination, 
the organized, covetous, unscrupulous traffic, which, making mer- 
chandise of human souls for its own aggrandizement, works the 
most fearful evils in almost all dense populations. 

Massachusetts, by her local-option law of 1881, had been 
giving her cities and towns the opportunity to throw off this 
paralysis, and many of them had taken advantage of it, in- 
cluding our border city of Somerville, which, for some years, 
had excluded the saloon. The result was that Cambridge had 
to do a large part of Somerville's liquor business as well as 
her own. There being as yet no population limit for the grant- 
ing of licenses, one hundred and twenty-two of these nefarious 
places existed within the city ; disorder was on the increase in 
our streets ; those elements which always attend the saloon were 
becoming dominant at the city hall ; and our city fathers were 
so persuaded of the invulnerable position of the rum power, that 
they considered the city's vote of license as liberty to do the 
most absurd things at its behest. One of these transactions, 
the notorious DeWire case near Shady Hill, produced tremen- 
dous indignation in the university, in addition to the discontent 
which was widely diffused throughout the city. 

What would most cities have done under such circumstances ? 
They would have had a wild, not to say fanatic, outburst of 
indignation, hot speeches, a no-license vote for one year, an ill 
enforcement of the vote, and after twelve months rum back 
again worse than ever. 

Not so did our city. Being deeply religious as it is, the 
churches joined together, and there was a tremendous religious 
campaign. But being also intensely practical as the city is, a 
large, representative, aud non-partisan committee was organized, 
which canvassed our entire voting-lists in the interest of no- 
license, and printed a paper called " Frozen Truth," which was 
distributed to all voters, and in which the cold facts about the 
saloon, the " congealed veracity " as somebody called it, were 
laid before our people. Moreover this committee organized a 
most efficient campaign, personally, at the polling-places by the 
use of check lists, and so forth. 

The result was, in December, 1886, the overthrow of the 
saloon by a majority of 566. This vote did not take effect 



92 "THE CAMBRIDGE IDEA:' 

under our statutes until the first of the following May. In the 
mean time a Law Enforcement Association was organized, with 
the paradoxical purpose of never enforcing the law ; but, the 
rather, of fixing the responsibility upon the proper officers, of 
supplying them with information, of holding up their hands, of 
seeing that large praise came to them for all faithful work, and 
of focusing the intelligence and indignation of the city upon all 
dereliction of duty in this regard. 

4. This was the state of affairs on Sunday, May 1, 1887, a 
day observed religiously by the churches as the first on which 
the city had escaped from its great enemy, an escape which has 
never yet been nullified. 

The saloon-keepers, however, were cheerful. They held on 
to their leases, and threatened to bury us the next year. They 
reckoned on the precedent of such revulsions in other cities, 
where the thorough methods employed by us had not been in 
use. 

Our leaders in this effort, as the next election drew near, 
went around among our principal citizens, asking, in the in- 
terest simply of fair play, more than seven months in which 
to try the experiment ; and so reasonable were our people, even 
many of those who doubted the wisdom of the permanent exclu- 
sion of the saloon, that they acceded to this request. 

The same kind of campaign as that of 1886, only much fur- 
ther perfected in its details, was waged that year ; and, though 
the conflict was tremendous, and each side polled nearly 1400 
more votes than in 1886, the saloon was beaten the second year 
by the identical majority, 566, which had first abolished it. 
Then those very saloon-keepers, who had boastfully held on to 
their leases, hastened to get rid of them, and quit the city ; and in 
the eight campaigns which have since ensued, the same stirring 
scenes have been retinacted, although each year has had its own 
distinctive issues in detail and its own unique and glorious 
fight. 

5. But when the State at large, after two or three years, saw 
that the exclusion of the saloon had come to Cambridge to stay, 
straightway our city was thrust into the forefront, as that one 
community in the world of its size which had been able contin- 
uously, and by its own volition, to get the better of this great 
curse. 

Consequently our literature, our speakers, our methods of 



A UNIQUE TRIUMPH. 93 

campaigning', in fact, everything that could throw light on our 
unique struggle, were in constant demand from widely over the 
State, and from beyond it. Chelsea, in particular, being in a 
worse condition than we had been, and in a county involving- 
great difficulties in the enforcement of liquor laws, studied care- 
fully our methods, and very soon following them, threw out the 
saloon, and thus became, hardly less than Cambridge herself, 
although under Cambridge's inspiration, an argument in the 
same direction. 

Space does not permit even the most summaiy account of the 
influence which Cambridge has thus had not only upon the 
towns and cities of this Commonwealth, but widely over New 
England, and beyond New England, and even beyond the 
United States. This has been the more inevitable because of 
the startling and convincing array of results of our saloon exclu- 
sion, to which, most briefly, I am about to allude. The burden 
of correspondence which has thereby come upon many of our 
people, the amount of time and strength which they have 
spent in traveling to speak on the subject in distant places, 
and the proud crown of glory which this unique triumph has 
set upon the brow of our city, cannot here be described, and can 
hardly be imagined. 

6. The climax of all this was reached when, in the election of 
1895, the city, realizing that its vote would determine the char- 
acter of the fiftieth anniversary year of our present municipal 
organization, gathered itself together, and, in a peculiarly diffi- 
cult and malignant campaign which was being waged on behalf 
of rum, — in the room of its previous majority of 599, and of 
the largest majority which it had ever cast, namely 843, — broke 
all records, and registered 1503 as its tenth annual verdict 
against the saloon. That memorable day, the ringing of the 
bells in the evening, the jubilee meeting that was held, the en- 
thusiasm, for days and weeks thereafter, of our people over this 
unprecedented victory, this tenth milestone of our success, will 
never be forgotten by those who in any way participated in the 
same. 

It is impossible in this article to treat this general subject 
with any fullness, or even in adequate outline. The reader is 
referred to Mr. Edmund A. Whitman's admirable pamphlet, 
" The Cambridge Idea in Temperance Reform," prepared as a 
part of the Massachusetts exhibit for the Columbian Exposition, 



94 



" THE CAMBRIDGE IDEA." 



and of which a new edition was published in aid of the Ohio 
Anti-Saloon Congress of January of the present year. Happily 
this treatise is electrotyped, and by applying to Mr. Whitman, 
can be reproduced to any extent that may be desired, whether 
for use in this State or beyond it, for the mere cost of paper 
and press-work. Besides this classic statement on the subject 
by one to whom, almost more than to any other person, our 
£reat overturn was due, the reader is referred to the files of the 
" Frozen Truth," and of our Cambridge weeklies, and to a num- 
ber of special articles prepared by various persons, and par- 
ticularly by the longtime chairman of our Citizens' No-License 
Committee, Mr. Frank Foxcroft. 

All that can here be further said in this connection is to refer 
briefly, first, to the results, and then, to the methods of our 
excluding the saloon. 1 

7. As the result of the exclusion of the saloon, though doubt- 
less other causes have had some part in the same, it may be 
mentioned that our population has increased nearly twice as fast 
as before the saloon went ; that the quality of the increase has 
much improved ; that new houses began to be built twice or 

1 Following is a tabular exhibit of the vote of Cambridge on this question 
since the State Local Option Law went into effect in 1881 : — 



TABULAR EXHIBIT OF VOTE. 



1881 
1882 
1883 
1884 
1885 
1886 
1887 
1888 
1889 
1890 
1891 
1892 
1893 
1894 
1895 



Yes. 
2,614 
2,772 
3,116 
3,659 
2,764 
2,344 
3,727 
3,819 
3,300 
3,611 
3,565 
4,763 
4,539 
4,500 
4,160 



No. 

2,608 
2,379 
2,522 
2,522 
2,234 
2,910 
4,293 
4,483 
3,793 
4,180 
4,051 
5,006 
5,329 
5,099 
5,663 



Yes 

Majority. 

6 
393 
594 

1,137 
530 



No 
Majority. 



566 
566 
664 
493 
569 
486 
843 
790 
599 
1,503 



Population in 1887 (when vote took effect) . somewhat under 70,000 

Population in 1896 about 84,000 

Employees of Cambridge factories, 1890 14,208 



A CLEAN CITY GOVERNMENT. 95 

thrice as rapidly ; that our valuation had increased — some 
three years ago when such statistics were most exhaustively 
compiled — over the old rate of increase in the corresponding- 
period under the saloon, $6,000,000, enough, it should be said, 
to bring into the city treasury, on the average rate of assess- 
ment, $ 90,000 clean money, in the room of perhaps -$60,000 
which might have been received of filthy money from the saloon ; 
and that, instead of above a thousand tramps who used to be 
accommodated in our station houses annually, hardly more than 
a hundred had been entertained annually during the same space 
of time. Our new savings banks deposits, moreover, in the year 
referred to stood, in round numbers, $586,000, as against 
$140,000 the last year of the saloon ; while the new depositors 
of that year were 1992, as against 861 the last year of the saloon. 
Furthermore, not a small part of these increased deposits was 
going back to workingmen for the building of their homes ; and 
this says nothing of the upspringing of several prosperous cooper- 
ative banks which were doing much the same thing. Our manu- 
facturers, our merchants, and our employers of labor in general, 
testified year by year, through the columns of the " Frozen 
Truth," to the increased sobriety, industry, skill, and efficiency 
of their work-people, owing to the absence of the saloon. 
Physicians, clergymen, charity workers, and all persons at all 
familiar with the actual conditions of the great bulk of our 
population, bore witness in the same direction. But all this, 
I must remind the reader, is only a partial summary of the tan- 
gible specific results growing out of the exclusion of the saloon. 
I indicate in addition — hardly more, however, than mention- 
ing them — three supreme results : — 

(1) Our city government has been cleansed, steadily improved, 
and continuously elevated in its ideals and in the quality of its 
work. The young woman who, with her " best young man," go- 
ing down Main Street one moonlight night, paused with him be- 
fore our new city hall, and, after a friendly dispute about what 
was the chief glory of that building, " scored," as the young man 
admitted, by declaring that the most beautiful thing about that 
building was that there had never been a liquor license signed 
within it, — expressed, in a nutshell, the substance of the matter 
in this direction. 

(2) In the second place, previously existing lines of division 
have been wiped out. Catholics have come to love Protestants, 



96 " THE CAMBRIDGE IDEA." 

and Protestants to love Catholics. Evangelicals have come to 
love unevangelicals, and unevangelicals to love evangelicals. 
Betwixt the . so-called " religious " and the so-called " non-reli- 
gious," as notably in the Prospect Union, the offensive lines 
have to a considerable extent disappeared. Betwixt Republi- 
cans, too, and Democrats, and Third Party people, and so forth, 
the same state of things has come to obtain. Those hateful 
lines, also, of local jealousy or antagonism between the original 
nuclei of the city, East Cambridge, Cambridgeport,. North Cam- 
bridge, and Old Cambridge, have been largely obliterated, so 
that we have become one people. This has been the outcome 
of that great price of agitation and of united toil whereby we 
have obtained our newer freedom. Father Scully put it right, 
in a meeting to open the no-license campaign of 1894, when he 
stood up and said : " The saloon seems to have been among us 
to keep us by the ears one against another. We Catholics did 
not like you Protestants, and you Protestants did not like us 
Catholics. But now that the saloon is gone, we love one another, 
and are nobly helpful one toward another." And when the 
Catholic bell of St. Mary's leads off, and the Trinitarian bell 
of Prospect Street, and the Unitarian bell of Austin Street 
follow after it in that threefold chiming which, each election 
night, tells to our city and to our neighbor municipalities the 
tidings of our annual victory over the saloon, here again — as 
with the young woman and her lover regarding our redeemed 
civics — is the symbol of that new unity which has come to 
Cambridge. 

(3) There is one other result, the highest of all. It is that 
the name of which is put in quotation marks at the head of this 
article. For when, having a polling-list of 12,000 or 13,000, 
and being unable year by year (until this last) to get a majority 
greater than 843 (though it never fell lower than 48G), it was 
obvious each year that the city, by but the turn of a few votes 
in a hundred, might bring back the saloon, it could not but fol- 
low that the friends of the saloon, aided by the rum money of 
Boston and of other places, would make a tremendous fight. 
Such has been the fact ; and consequently, every year, the result 
has been in exceeding great doubt, and our struggle has been 
something fearful. It has followed from this fierce annual 
conflict that the whole city has been aroused ; that we have had, 
annually, a month of what has been virtually a public insti- 



"AS TO METHODS." 97 

tute of civics and of practical ethics ; and that, to a degree 
which no one not a resident can realize, all the best forces of 
onr city, irrespective of creed, or politics, or social rank, have 
been fused together and uplifted with one common moral and 
spiritual impulse. It was about midway of that struggle that 
suddenly, as I stated in the opening paragraph of this article, 
but as naturally as great thoughts are born ever out of the 
fierce travail of our race, the phrase, " The Cambridge Idea " 
broke in upon our Cambridge speech. Of this I shall have a 
word more to say as I close. Let it suffice now to remark that 
in this idealism, this stirring up of the largest and best civic 
thought of which every right-meaning person in the city is 
capable, the supreme result of our ten years of struggle regis- 
ters itself. 

8. Only a few sentences now, as to methods. These have 
been : (1) No candidates, — that is, as no-license men, we 
have not, in that capacity, had anything to do with candidates ; 
(2) No politics, — in the same sense ; (3) No temperance 
shibboleths, — that is, a platform broad enough to include all 
haters of the saloon, even though they might be drinking men ; 
(4) Dividing the question, — that is, the concentrating of atten- 
tion solely upon this issue, Shall, or shall not the saloon come 
back ? (5) A campaign of facts, — that is, the leaving of 
abstractions, and a thorough inductive inquiry as to the rela- 
tive effects of the saloon with us and the saloon gone ; (6) An 
entirely independent, and yet an absolutely harmonious and 
mutually helpful twofold campaign, — the one religious, in 
the Catholic and Protestant churches, and the other purely 
secular and along such lines that all right-minded men could 
join upon the one issue raised ; (7) Hard work, — work as if 
one vote might decide the question. 

9. Leaving now the resume which I have given of the most 
distinctive movement, in civic directions, which has marked our 
city from 1886 until this present, a few words require to be 
added about the relation of all this to the larger life of Cam- 
bridge. Let no man, then, suppose that there has been any- 
thing fanatical about this movement. It has been eminently 
rational, sane, and practical. When President Eliot, addressing 
an immense audience in Union Hall two or three years since, 
stated how radically in temperance theory he differed probably 
from most of those present, but proceeded to testify that he 



98 " THE CAMBRIDGE IDEA." 

had for several years voted No, and was about to do so again, 
partly because a license policy could not, in the present temper 
of the city, be enforced, but more because the city had been 
educated up to the point where it could do without the saloon, 
he gave to our movement the highest praise, from a large point 
of view, that it has ever received. The praise was the more 
noble because it was entirely and absolutely true. Further- 
more, the city got upon this thing because it had to ; because 
the forces already at work within itself drove it along this path 
as by an irresistible impulse. It was a stage of civic evolution 
which had to come. Still further, let it not be forgotten that, 
though the exclusion of the saloon and the superb cognate 
results which have followed therefrom have constituted the 
most striking outward feature of all these unfoldings, never- 
theless, this, as it were, has been but a drop in the bucket 
beside that larger movement of which it has been a part, 
whereby a profound civic sense, civic consciousness, civic pur- 
pose, and civic consecration have become the normal temper of 
our great and heterogeneous population. As a New Testament 
writer urges his readers to " lay aside every weight, and the 
sin which doth so easily beset " them, so Cambridge, joining- 
battle with one special besetting sin, has toned up all the forces 
which make for righteousness within it, has won for itself a 
living unity, has brought itself under the sway of vast construc- 
tive ideals, and has thus been, in very deed, laying aside every 
weight. And as I believe it is true that, in our university, 
civics and economics are taught as they are nowhere else taught 
in America, so I believe that the young men let out from its lec- 
ture-rooms have only to repair to our city hall, and to walk 
through, all our borders, to find practical illustrations of good 
civics and economics which cannot be paralleled in the New 
World. 

10. Thus has it come to pass that, two hundred and sixty-five 
years from the founding of Cambridge, and fifty years from the 
organization of its present form of government, the most glori- 
ous decade of its entire history is also rounding out. For the 
sole purpose of great history, of high intellectual privilege, and 
of the blessings of poetry and other supreme manifestations of 
genius, is to produce fruit. Noblesse oblige. And all that 
Thomas Shepard and the bringing hither of the college and the 
glorious storied days of the municipality, all that the Washing- 



" the secret:' 99 

ton Elm and Craigie House and Elmwood and our cis- Atlantic 
Westminster at Mount Auburn might presage, have begun to 
fulfill themselves in that high place, as regards civic and ethical 
values, out into which Cambridge has been girding her loins 
to march, and unto the realization of which her plainest and 
humblest people, and her most intelligent and highly endowed, 
are alike consecrated. Thus, moreover, was it, that when, four 
or five years ago, there broke into Cambridge speech — so sud- 
denly, with such energy, and with such large significance, that 
these can hardly yet be realized — the phrase, " The Cambridge 
Idea," that spiritual ideal, that conception of a city of God on 
earth, that indefinable aspiration through which alone either 
individuals or communities may come to their highest, found a 
language and a watchword which held within itself the secret of 
our city's destiny. 

— Should I be quite true to my profession, or to a habit 
which I have had in Cambridge during the best years of my 
life, if I failed, as I close, to drop into a few sentences of spe- 
cial exhortation in naming a very particular type of reasons 
why we should all be dedicated to " The Cambridge Idea," and 
should go forward with our whole might into the realization of 
that measureless and as yet unimaginable future which, through 
its puissance, lies before our dear city ? 

For students are coming hither by the ten thousand, from 
decade to decade. They will not be able to resist that into 
which it is possible for " The Idea " to make Cambridge. Ora- 
tors, poets, jurists, statesmen, educators, scientists, artists, re- 
formers of the time that is to be, will be ever among us. As 
they shall stroll up and down the Charles, as they shall linger 
in our entrancing places, — like the Cam banks at the elder 
Cambridge, like the Long Walk at Oxford, like the terraces at 
Edinburgh, — shall we not, by what we shall make Cambridge, 
so build the ennobling, the true, and the beautiful into their 
lives that, through them, we shall bless inestimably the whole 
world ? That, brothers, is our task. 

But, one asks, will the greatest genius whom all this shall 
enrich be a university man ? Probably not. Probably he will 
be the child of some poor operative in* one of our Cambridge 
factories, or of some artisan or small tradesman among us. 
But the beautiful and noble Cambridge will touch his soul, and 
the divine mystery of existence will work itself out in him and 



100 " THE CAMBRIDGE IDEA." 

through him, as it did in and through the boy by the Ayr, and 
the boy by the Avon. For Nature likes to be original, and to 
have her own way ; and the most that we can do to help her — 
as was done by the Ayr and by the Avon — is to make every- 
thing beautiful and true. This shall we not do in Cambridge ? 
Shall not " The Idea " have its full scope? Then, as surely as 
tides rise and moons fill out their slender crescents, the city's 
age of intelligence, of inspiring history, and of great poetry 
shall be even more in the future than in the glorious past. 



THE CAMBRIDGE LITTORAL. 

By FREDERIC H. VIAUX. 

When the lone pioneer Blaxton, voluntary Crusoe of Shaw- 
mut, climbed to the peak of the hill at the foot of which he had 
pitched his solitary camp, he beheld to the westward two great 
bays, barely held apart at the base of the slopes by a low, nar- 
row path disappearing in the highlands beyond. In either of 
these spacious coves the navies of the world of the time might 
have found ample anchorage. A winding river, flowing down 
from the westerly hills, broadened into a noble estuary that 
formed a land-locked harbor, and, narrowing again, rushed with 
a sister stream in confluence towards the open sea. 

It was a bountiful stream of fresh water that brought Win- 
throp and his men to the hills of Blaxton's peninsula, on the 
slopes of which they settled and faced the blasts of the east 
wind. Had these life-giving waters gushed forth on the farther 
bank of the great bay to the north, the Boston of the pioneers 
would have been founded there, — there would have been the 
sheltered harbor and the seat of commerce, with the city of the 
future gradually encircling the great inland haven protected by 
Blaxton's hills from the ocean winds and storms. 

If Winthrop and the new-comers turned their backs on the 
estuary of the Charles, as a port, there were some who, allured 
by the gentle slopes of the opposite shores, crossed it in search 
of fields to till and meadows for pasture. But it was more than 
a quarter of a century (1660) after their coming before they 
found courage to span the river with a rude bridge at its nar- 
rowest point. Thereafter they lived on and on with the most 
meagre means of communication with the parent settlement, 
despite the dignity of a college foundation, and the war of the 
Revolution had been fought and independence won, the Consti- 
tution had been adopted and Washington was President of the 
United States, before the people finally abandoned their uncer- 



102 THE -CAMBRIDGE LITTORAL. 

tain ferries and spanned the river with a causeway and bridge, 
thus gaining ready access to Blaxton's hills and the great town 
of the day that had grown up upon and around them. 

That part of the original New Towne which is now Cam- 
bridge held, in 1793, when the first bridge to Boston was 
opened, more than a century and a half after the coming of the 
forefathers, but one hundred and forty-eight houses, which shel- 
tered twelve hundred souls. That the new link across the 
Charles was the most happy material event that had happened 
to Cambridge since its foundation — the college, of course, 
excepted — was proven by the rapid growth of the town that 
at once followed its opening. The twelve hundred of 1793 
became twenty-four hundred in 1808, and obtained another 
bridge, this time from Lechmere Point. 

It was the northern bay which had kept Boston and Cam- 
bridge apart so long with the breadth of its waters and the wide 
stretches of its marshes and flats. These tide-covered lowlands 
skirted the town its entire easterly and southerly sides from 
Charlestown to Watertown, a distance of nearly five miles. 
More than a third in extent of what is now Cambridge was 
lapped by the spring-tides up to the beginning of the century. 
To the east a mile of lowlands lay between the town and the 
channel of the Charles. As long as an abundance of tillable 
land satisfied a sparse population, the marshes, as yet undefiled, 
performed auxiliary service to the farmer with their supplies of 
salt hay, and the flats, as yet untainted, gave him the mussel 
and the clam in plenty. The yield of the grass gave but slight 
value to the riparian lands. It was not until the people grew 
in such numbers as to exhaust the uplands, that any attempt 
was made to reclaim the lowlands for habitation or commerce. 
The bridge of 1793, which became the great highway from the 
towns of Middlesex to the markets of Boston, and so quickly 
doubled the population of Cambridge, gave the first impetus 
to the work of pushing back the sea. Its long causeway was 
laboriously made over the marshes, and, later, little by little, a 
rod of land was gained from the waters here and there on either 
side as the increasing traffic justified the enterprise of shop or 
of inn. The new prosperity of the town awakened the ambi- 
tion of the more sanguine. Why suffer Cambridge to be merely 
a roadway to the capital town, when the great basin of the 
Charles offered as ample a roadstead as the harbor T^elow ? 



MARSHES RECLAIMED. 103 

Let the market-wagons end their journey in Cambridge and 
there exchange their burdens for the freights of the world 
brought direct to the wharves of Cambridge. Why tamely 
suffer Boston to monopolize the commerce of the seas, when 
Salem and Newburyport and New Bedford successfully dis- 
puted for a share ? Out of such ambitions grew the ditch 
canals of the new port of Cambridge, and the laying out, on a 
grand scale for the day, of the Broad Way leading over the 
marshes to the high lands. But the enterprise, praiseworthy 
as was its conception, languished, and dashed the hopes of its 
courageous promoters. Like the bridge, however, it stimulated 
settlement upon the marshes ; for the excavations of the canals 
were cast up on either side, and strips of made land grew along 
the new water-ways and gave room for wharf landings and 
desultory structures. Similar results followed the opening of 
the Craigie Bridge, in 1809, in East Cambridge. 

The projection of the railroad across the eastern marshes, 
after Cambridge became a city, divided their expanse with its 
raised embankment for rail service into two almost equal parts. 
Although a narrow culvert here and there half admitted the 
pressing tide, a rampart was thus formed that kept the great 
tract of lowlands between it and the uplands comparatively 
dry and firm ; and the establishment of industries on the 
barren lands, along the new path of the iron horse, was en- 
couraged. Thus by the creation of the bridges and of the rail- 
road, great sections of the marshes were cut off from the inroads 
of the sea, and invited from their exceeding cheapness those of 
means too small to enjoy the luxury of the far more costly solid 
lands. These for the most part camped on the wastes as they 
were, content to raise them by gradual process, if at all, with 
the scant refuse of their homes. With a blindness to the inev- 
itable outcome of such ill-conditioned settlements that seems 
strange to us now, the municipality permitted their haphazard 
growth and continuance until their offensive conditions threat- 
ened the well-being of the whole city, and finally compelled an 
interference so costly as to burden for a time the public re- 
sources. Extensive areas of the original marshes were thus 
reclaimed largely out of the common purse. It would have 
been well in the light of what we know now, if a long step 
further had been taken, and the entire littoral of the city had 
been then condemned to public uses ; for private capital con- 



101 THE CAMBRIDGE LITTORAL. 

tinued to shrink from the hazardous enterprise of reclaiming 
these border lands, so forlorn was the outlook for their comnier- 
cial utilization. And so the outskirt river-lands remained as a 
standing menace, and as the people grew in numbers, became 
more and more an offense to sight and smell, a desolation, 
forming a forbidding entrance to a beautiful and famous city. 

Meanwhile, Boston had been early forced, through the con- 
finement of her narrow limits, to overcome the handicap of the 
tides with laborious seizures of the encompassing lowlands. 
From the beginning of the present century large areas of tide- 
covered lands were successively reclaimed and quickly occupied. 
The great northern basin was in turn attacked with vigor, until 
half its water-lands was condemned to the uses of man. The 
Commonwealth, successor to the old rights of the Crown in sub- 
merged lands, took part in the work of recovery, and helped to 
solve the problem of necessary expansion at large profit both of 
money and of urban advantage. A quarter of a century ago, 
the narrow neck of land, so low as to be often washed by the 
spring-tides, that Blaxton beheld from his hilltop disappearing 
into the western highlands, had by man's work grown far 
broader than the peninsula of which he was the original settler. 

It is to the outcome of the work of the State and of its 
capital city in reclaiming the southern shoals of the great 
estuary of the Charles that Cambridge owes in large measure 
the improvement of its own riparian lands. For among the 
highways that were run for the people's convenience over the 
commonwealth lands was West Chester Park, which crossed 
all the great arteries of the city, and, carried as it was straight 
to the river's bank, clearly invited extension over the waters to 
the sister community beyond. Again Boston, awakened at this 
time by the example of other great municipalities, began to 
consider seriously the acquirement of park areas. A beautiful 
system of open places was outlined in 1876, and, of the many 
attractive spots suggested here and there throughout the city 
for common use, it was officially proclaimed that the gem of 
them all would be the great interior basin of the Charles. 

The building of West Chester Park to the river's edge fore- 
told its ultimate extension to the opposite bank. The public 
suggestion of the adornment of the Boston littoral encouraged the 
idea of its duplication on the northern shore. The proprietors 
of the Cambridge lowlands took heart, and began to dream of a 



"THE METROPOLIS OF THE FUTURE:' 105 

bright future for these hitherto worthless wastes. To the adorn- 
ment of the basin, commerce of every kind, long hampered by the 
hindrance of the manifold bridges, must give way, and only fine 
habitations face the wide esplanades on either side. For such 
purposes the Cambridge shore, that caught the sunshine of the 
entire day, was far superior to the Boston bank. The summer 
breezes from the Brookline hills, gathering cool refreshment as 
they swept over the bay, shunned the southern shore to bring- 
full benefaction to the Cambridge lowlands. Here was a solid 
foundation of clay and gravel near the surface, while the silt 
of centuries had lain deep on the other side. "When the bridge 
was built across the bay to the fine home quarter of Boston, 
the remote lands of Cambridge were brought conveniently near 
to this and all other centres of the capital city ; furthermore, 
these lands were in the heart of what was to be the CTeat 
metropolis of the future, when Boston and its fringe of beauti- 
ful cities and towns should come together under a single name 
and assume a place among the great cities of the world. 

As soon as the stress of the commercial disturbance of the 
seventies was relaxed, the first step forward in the general im- 
provement of the Cambridge shore of the basin was taken. In 
the summer of 1880, the proprietors of two thirds of the low- 
lands were brought together in conference. Out of their delib- 
erations sprang an agreement to make common interest in a 
work of improvement, which was projected on broad lines. 
The submerged lands lying between Main Street on the north, 
the Grand Junction Railroad on the west, and the bay of the 
Charles on the south, formed an irregular triangle, covering an 
area of about two hundred and fifteen acres, greater in extent 
than the Back Bay district of Boston between Boylston Street 
and the river. There were no structures of any kind on this 
territory except along the line of Main Street. The water line 
from bridge to bridge of the lands was about nine thousand 
feet, nearly two miles, in length. The northerly half of the dis- 
trict was almost entirely flats, uncovered only at low tide. A 
tongue of marsh, with a fine gravel beach, known as Whitte- 
more's Point, made out into the waters in the centre of the 
lands, and beyond this, to the south, the flats were nearly 
equal in extent. Great indentations had been formerly made 
in these marshes for material to fill lowlands in the old westerly 
end of Boston. It was planned to embrace the whole of this 



106 THE CAMBRIDGE LITTORAL. 

triangular territory in a harmonious scheme of development 
for a residential quarter of the first class with an ornamental 
esplanade two hundred feet wide, contained by a substantial 
sea-wall fronting the water, extending* from bridge to bridge, 
in complement of the proposed embankment on the Boston side. 
The material for filling the lands was to be taken from the 
ample stretches of gravel and sand in the basin and appurte- 
nant to the territory. Thus the reclamation of the lands would 
be followed by the removal of the nuisance of the offensive 
outer flats, and a full basin of water, independent of the tides, 
would be created fronting the broad esplanade. Effort was 
to be made to hasten the construction of the bridge from West 
Chester Park, the extension of which across the river would 
strike the territory to be improved at a central point. 

Appeal was made to the legislature of 1881 for authority to 
permit the proprietors to unite in carrying out their enterprise 
of improvement, and . liberal corporate powers were granted 
them under the name of the Charles River Embankment Com- 
pany. The esplanade two hundred feet in width was provided 
for, to be appropriated to public use, and a right of eminent 
domain to project it beyond the limits of the combined owner- 
ship of the incorporators to the bridges at either end as ter- 
mini was granted. The capital of the company was fixed at 
not less than five hundred thousand dollars, with permission to 
increase the amount to not exceeding two millions of dollars. 
Authority was granted the city of Boston by the same General 
Court to begin the improvement of the river bank between 
Craigie and West Boston bridges. The following year power 
was granted by the legislature to Boston and Cambridge to 
build conjointly a bridge over the bay of the Charles from a 
point on Beacon Street, to be determined in concurrence, and 
the city council of each city made an appropriation sufficient 
to secure soundings for piers and plans for a structure. Early 
in 1883, committees of the two city governments agreed upon 
the location of the bridge as an extension of the lines of West 
Chester Park. In February of the same year, the incorporators 
of the new Charles River Embankment Company, after a vexa- 
tious delay, took conveyance of about one hundred acres of the 
land within the territory to be reclaimed, and, in conjunction 
with other proprietors controlling some fifty additional acres, 
began the work of improvement. The first section of retaining- 



THE HARVARD BRIDGE. 107 

wall, one thousand feet in length, was built on a solid founda- 
tion of gravel during the summer and fall of 1883, and a large 
quantity of material was excavated by dredges from the flats 
fronting the wall and deposited on the lands behind. 

This was the first material work done towards the adornment 
of the Charles River basin and the devotion of its shores to 
public uses. Boston began what is now her Charlesbank some 
time later. Cambridge, recognizing the vast importance of 
the successful improvement of the large districts of offensive 
lands on her border at private cost, and appreciating the magni- 
tude and the difficulties of the enterprise of the Embankment 
Company, wisely relieved it from the burden of increased tax- 
ation for a period of ten years, and in return the company 
obliged itself to build over its lands a wide approach to the pro- 
posed bridge, and to fulfill other requirements. Further, the 
city authorities did all in their power to hasten the construction 
of the new avenue across the Charles. Obstruction to the 
measure was prolonged in the c\tj council of Boston, in spite 
of the petition of many of the leading citizens and of the heavi- 
est tax-payers of that city, until, iu 1887, recourse was had to 
the General Com*t for relief, and a mandatory act was obtained 
enforcing the construction of the bridge and providing for a 
commission with full powers to accomplish that end. The 
bridge act of 1887 was unique in that no former legislature had 
exerted such compulsory powers in enforcing a public work of 
this order upon two of the larger cities of the State, one of which 
through a representative body had declared by a large majority 
for its indefinite postponement. 

The passage of the enforcing act was followed by a quick 
beginning of the work on the bridge structure under the com- 
mission in charge, and the work of reclaiming the lowlands 
within the territory of the Embankment Company was resumed. 
The completion of the Charlesbank, in Boston, which was at 
once taken into popular favor as the most health-giving of all the 
new commons, directed general attention to the opportunities of 
the Charles River. Agitation was begun for the extension of the 
Boston embankment farther up the stream ; the question of the 
closing of navigation on its waters to mast vessels, thus defi- 
nitely devoting its banks to residential and park purposes, was 
warmly taken up ; the pollution of its tides by noxious sewage 
was denounced, and an era of popular appreciation of the noble 



108 THE CAMBRIDGE LITTORAL. 

river and its broad estuary set in, out of which is fast coming 
the fulfillment of its destiny as the most beautiful water-park 
in America. The general discussion of Charles River questions 
led to the creation of a special commission (1891) charged with 
inquiring into and reporting upon the proper treatment for the 
public weal of the historic stream. This was followed by the 
recommendations of the Metropolitan Park Commission, a new 
body, created in 1892 to supplement the work of Boston, and 
to provide open spaces for the larger Boston, in favoring the 
appropriation of the shores of the river to park uses. The 
new bridge, fittingly named from the college to which its con- 
necting avenue leads, was finished in 1890, but, awaiting the 
settlement of a question of crossing the location of the Grand 
Junction Railroad, was not opened to public use until 1891. 
After the opening of the bridge and its avenue, renewed prog- 
ress was made under this encouragement, with the extension 
of their sea-wall and the covering of their submerged lands by 
the Embankment Company. It remained for Cambridge to 
take the final step in the work of furthering the consecration 
of the Charles to adornment and recreation. A strong popular 
agitation of the question of public parks (1892) led to the cre- 
ation of a municipal park commission, with proper powers. 
A fortunate selection of three citizens uniting strong practical 
wisdom with excellent taste and judgment, to carry out the 
wishes of the people, was made. The work of this commission 
was as speedy as it was effective. Within a few months after 
its appointment, besides inland reservations, it had set apart 
forever to the use of the people a ribbon of shore lands in East 
Cambridge, between Craigie and West Boston bridges, fourteen 
hundred and sixty feet in length, and the entire Cambridge 
bank of the Charles from the westerly terminal of the espla- 
nade under construction by the Embankment Company almost 
to the Watertown line, a distance of over three miles. 

The waste areas to the north of Main Street have also been 
slowly undergoing changes for the better. Of the intricate 
system of canals devised for the creation o/ the port that was to 
rival Boston, one after the other succumbed to the encroach- 
ment of ti*ade. To-day, only a suggestion of the mighty enter- 
prise of the canal-builders is left in the Broad Canal, which will 
itself disappear in turn. West of the location of the railroad, 
numerous factories of importance, and, lately, of still larger 



THE BINNEY FIELDS. 109 

consequence, have been erected. A large fraction of the dis- 
trict known as the Binney fields obstinately resisted settlement, 
but now for the most part has become happily embraced in the 
park areas of the city. South of the railroad, the recovery of 
the lowlands, although almost encompassing the most thickly 
habited section of Cambridge, has been till recently slow in its 
progress. Repeated effort through corporate union of landed 
interests proved unavailing to effect their transformation. 

The incorporation of the city and the projection of the rail- 
road, promising a new era of prosperity and growth, encouraged 
certain merchants, in 1847, to undertake the improvement of the 
overflowed lands in this quarter. Corporate powers were se- 
cured by them from the General Court, with authority to buy 
and develop lands between the highlands of East Cambridge and 
the River Charles and north of West Boston Bridge ; and the 
Cambridge Wharf Company was organized. Beyond the pur- 
chase of a tract along the river front and the conception of a 
plan of improvement, this company did little, and finally re- 
leased its entire holdings to an individual purchaser in 1890. 
A second corporation was created by the legislature in 1861, 
under the name of the East Cambridge Land Company, to 
attempt the work of reclamation in the territory covered by its 
predecessor. A large district covering some seventy-five acres, 
lying between Portland Street and Third (formerly Court) Street 
and the Broad Canal came into the possession of this company. 
On these lands a number of manufacturing structures and work- 
shops, some of notable character, have been erected ; but after 
thirty-five years of effort, and despite the strong and steady 
growth of the old districts of the city during that period, quite 
one third of the available holdings of this company still remain 
to be built upon. In 1874, a third charter was granted by the 
legislature to other citizens desirous of solving the utilitarian 
problems in this section. The Cambridge Improvement Com- 
pany was thus formed, and became possessed of between fifty 
and sixty acres of lowlands, mostly flats, between Third Street 
and the river. The interposition of Broad Canal between these 
lands and Main Street, always a seemingly insurmountable 
obstacle to the use of these lands, effectually closed them from 
advantageous connection with Boston. With the aid of the 
authorities of the municipality, this barrier was, however, about 
to be removed, when the disastrous financial panic following the 



110 THE CAMBRIDGE LITTORAL. 

initiation of this enterprise, which paralyzed all energies, effec- 
tually put an end to the efforts of this company. A short sec- 
tion of stone wall on the river front, ragged from neglect, re- 
mained as a forlorn monument of the fallen fortunes of this 
enterprise until 1889, when a citizen of Boston, convinced of 
the possibilities of these barren lands, situated as they were in 
the heart of a great community, and within a trifling distance 
of the commercial centres of his city, acquired nearly fifty acres 
of this territory, including the entire water front, half a mile 
in length, lying between the canal and either bridge. 

The effort to recover this land was at once renewed, and this 
time with effect. First Street was at once filled, from its ter- 
minus at Binney Street to the line of Broad Canal, a thousand 
feet in length, and the sea-wall along the river extended east- 
erly. By a wise cooperation of the city authorities and the 
courageous investor, the Broad Canal was at length bridged, 
and entrance gained to Main Street at its junction with West 
Boston bridge. Since that time, the work of recovering the 
waste lands of this part of Cambridge has been rapid. Already 
about fifteen acres of original flat-lands have been filled. First 
Street has been recognized by the city authorities as a thor- 
oughfare of such importance as to warrant a pavement of 
granite blocks. Its sidewalks, ten feet in width, will be as- 
phalted. On this street stands, finished but yesterday, one of 
the noblest monuments of industry yet erected in Cambridge, a 
great structure, whose purposes are proclaimed by Athena, god- 
dess of letters, whose heroic effigy proudly crowns its pediment. 

Of the ancient marshes and flats in this quarter of the city, 
between the highlands and the river's line, over one hundred 
acres still await reclamation. It is to this district that Cam- 
bridge must largely look in the future for its prosperity. For 
here, under wise encouragement, should grow up a great manu- 
facturing quarter second to none other in or near the capital 
city. All elements necessary for the creation of a commercial 
district of this character seem to be here in happy conspiracy. 
It is almost at the gates of Boston. First Street is only a mile 
distant from the City Hall of Boston, and, accordingly, nearer 
to that accepted centre than the Hotel Vendome, than the new 
Union station now proposed on the Back Bay, than Dover 
Street, than all South Boston, except a small portion of the 
newly made lands, than all East Boston, than all Charlestown 



A RIVER PARK. Ill 

but a small fraction. Barges of the largest size may be moored 
at its wharves, and, by spur from the main line of steel track, 
the products of its factories may find direct land transportation 
over the continent. Two main thoroughfares lead from this 
quarter straight to the heart of the great city over the narrow 
waters in one direction, and out into the cities and towns be- 
yond in the other. Here wide streets will afford ample room 
for traffic, and preserve the play of sunshine and the freedom 
of air. A dense population is at hand to supply the artisans 
of the coming industries. A river park on the one side and 
a land park on the other will furnish the toilers and their chil- 
dren with refreshment and recreation. The policy of the city 
in encouraging the private reclamation of its lowlands, now long 
since established, will favor the proper improvement of this 
quarter with increased generosity as its possibilities become 
more fully appreciated. For with its appropriation by the great 
hives of industry will come an increased prosperity to the com- 
munity. As a purely residential city, Cambridge cannot hope 
to be more than an annex to Boston. The presence within her 
borders of large commercial interests will give her the impor- 
tance of a self-sufficing entity, and a hardy independence of 
her neighbors, great or small. To the spread of the quarters 
of business more than to those of habitation will be due that 
happy increase of financial resource which is so necessary for 
the pressing wants of a growing community. Long before 
Cambridge celebrates a centennial anniversary of urban exist- 
ence, these lands, every inch reclaimed from the deep, and filled 
with workshops and warehouses, will be pointed out with pride 
as a distinctive quarter of the city, its past nakedness and deso- 
lation buried and forgotten. 

Thus, in this memorial year, the results of the work of the 
last few years in solving the grave problems affecting the Cam- 
bridge littoral sum up largely. It is only thirteen years since 
the first stone of a sea-wall facing the bay of the Charles as the 
outwork of a public promenade was laid in the solid gravel of 
its bed. To-day, the wall stretches out far from either side of 
the Harvard bridge, in front of it an always open basin, and 
behind it the promised esplanade, two hundred feet wide, and 
thirty-five hundred feet in length, ready for the decoration of 
trees and plants to justify its exceeding value to the Cambridge 
of the future and its further extension along the river banks. 



112 THE CAMBRIDGE LITTORAL. 

To-day, the wall of the Charlesbank of East Cambridge is built, 
and a beautiful section of river park will at no distant time be 
there open to the people. To-day, with the exception of a few 
hundred feet, the entire littoral is in the hands of the people. 
The progressive improvement of the river's banks under public 
control will force the wholesome recovery of all the abutting 
lowlands at private initiative. In the commercial district to the 
north of Main Street the Binney marshes have given way to a 
health-giving common, and the obnoxious flats are fast disap- 
pearing. Since 1892, the bridge at First Street has been built, 
and fifteen acres of the adjacent lands have already been re- 
claimed for settlement ; it will be but a short time before the 
tide is finally driven from this entire quarter. To the south 
of Main Street, a great section of the ancient shallows, one 
hundred and twenty acres in extent, has given place to clean 
uplands, inviting the builders of houses. Beyond, to the west 
of the railroad, a million feet of the marshes have been raised, 
and a site for a great athletic campus is made. If all but a 
tithe of this great work has been done during the past five or 
six years, what may not be accomplished in its active prose- 
cution within the next decade? There can be now no retro- 
grade action in the treatment of the shores of the beautiful 
river. The transformation of the desolation that threatened 
the well-being of the people, that mortally offended the sense of 
the beautiful, that foreboded a staggering burden of public 
debt, has so far progressed that the quick consummation of the 
hopes of the past may be confidently anticipated. Nor will 
Cambridge be long alone in the labor. Her example must 
stimulate the great sister city to happy imitation on the south 
shore of the bay, and hasten the park scheme, covering the 
upper reaches of the Charles, to completion. When the work is 
finally completed of devoting this river and its banks far up 
the stream to the pleasures of the people, and all the menacing 
lowlands are things of an unhappy past, a great pride will fill 
the hearts of the people in the possession of so beautiful a spot, 
and the stranger will come from afar to admire. And Blaxton, 
could he climb again the high peak of his hermitage, and 
gaze on the splendid panorama about him, would indeed marvel 
at the mighty works of those who have come after him. 



CAMBRIDGE WATER-WORKS. 

By HON. CHESTER W. KINGSLEY. 

I propose to give a history of the beginning and progress 
of the chartered water-works in Cambridge. The facts, new to 
many, and perhaps not altogether uninteresting on an occasion 
like this, will thus be recorded for future reference. 

The first charter was granted to the Cambridgeport Aque- 
duct Company in April, 1837, to bring the water from a spring 
or springs on what is now Spring Hill in Somerville. The 
water was brought in wooden logs, and a limited amount was 
supplied in the lower Port for many years. 

In 1852, a charter was granted the Cambridge Water- Works, 
and in 1856, the corporation was authorized to take the water of 
Fresh Pond. Here our present water-works began. 

In 1861, the Cambridge Water-Works was empowered to buy 
out the Aqueduct Company, which it did, and the city of 
Cambridge in April, 1865, was permittted to buy and acquire 
the rights of both of these companies, which was done by vote 
of the city, and thus all the water-works in Cambridge became 
public property. 

In 1875, Cambridge was authorized to take the waters of Spy 
and Little Ponds, and Wellington Brook. Subsequently, all of 
these sources of supply were connected. Spy Pond afterwards 
was, however, condemned as a source of supply for domestic use, 
and no water was drawn from it for the use of Cambridge, 
but the waters of Wellington Brook and Little Pond helped 
furnish a supply for several years by being brought into Fresh 
Pond. As the city grew the demand for water increased, until 
these sources were entirely inadequate, and other water was 
looked for. 

May 21, 1884, the additional privilege was given to Cam- 
bridge to " take the waters of Stony Brook and its tributaries 
for the purpose of extinguishing fires, and for domestic and 



114 CAMBRIDGE WATER-WORKS. 

other purposes," and with the added right to " take land for 
building dams, creating storage basins, and doing everything 
else necessary to utilize the water thus given them." The act 
was accepted by the city council, the waters were formally taken, 
and have since been paid for and brought into Fresh Pond. 

Stony Brook and its tributaries have twenty-two square miles 
of watershed, and in 1893, the driest of the last eight years, 
they furnished by measurement more than eighteen million 
gallons, daily average, for the whole year. This was three times 
as much as we used. It will be seen by this that all that we 
need to do, to secure water enough for our city for many years, 
is to create storage basins to retain the water during the spring 
freshets, and hold it until the dry season comes. The Water 
Board is now making a storage basin on Hobbs Brook, a branch 
of Stony Brook, which will store two thousand million gallons 
of water. This, with Stony Brook, will furnish the city with an 
abundant supply for many years to come. Another large storage 
basin can be made at the head-waters of Stony Brook, when 
needed, including Beaver Pond, a location for a dam having 
been already secured and surveys made for another storage 
basin, plans of which are on file in the city engineer's office. 
The Water Board is also now building a high service distrib- 
uting reservoir at Payson Park, with a capacity of forty million 
gallons, which will greatly increase the security against fires, 
and furnish head for buildings on the highest lands in Cam- 
bridge. 

Before the city bought out the private companies, there was 
a difference of opinion among some of our best citizens as to 
whether it was best to buy, or not, some thinking that a depart- 
ment would be created in which jobs would be let out detrimen- 
tal to the city, an enterprise which private effort had failed to 
make profitable, and that it would be likely to become a financial 
burden, if the city took it. Others thought differently, and 
could see no good reason why the water-works should not be 
managed on business principles and take care of themselves. 

The city voted to buy out the private companies, and paid 
8291,400 (for which amount bonds were issued), at the same 
time agreeing that all extensions of the water-works should be 
provided for by bonds and surplus water rates, after paying 
current expenses. Interest on bonds, and what the law required 
for the sinking fund, was to be added to the sinking fund. In 




Cambridge Pumping Engine No. 7. 



THE FINANCIAL SHOWING. 115 

order to determine which class of our citizens was right in their 
views about buying the water-works, it was provided by ordi- 
nance that the accounts of the water-works should be kept 
separate from the other departments of the city. At first an 
allowance was made to the water-works for water furnished the 
fire department, for watering streets, for all public buildings, 
and water fountains for horses, etc. ; but several years since, 
the ordinance on these matters was repealed. Since that time 
nothing has been allowed the water-works for any used in the 
city for fire and other public purposes, as is the custom almost 
everywhere else. 

Now let us look at the financial standing after thirty and one 
half years' experience up to November 30, 1895. 

Amount of bonds issued for original purchase $291,400.00 

Bonds issued since for extension account 3,543,500.00 

Making the total amount of bonds issued $3,834,900.00 

Amount of bonds paid from sinking fund . $1,619,400.00 
Value of sinking fund November 30, 

1893, as per the trustee account .... 546,049.24 $2,165,449.24 

Leaving bonds yet outstanding to be provided for by 
the sinking fund and representing the net cost of 
the water-works, November 30, 1895 $1,669,450.76 

The sinking fund will be ample to provide for all outstanding 
bonds as fast as they fall due. 

We feel somewhat proud of our financial showing, especially 
when we know that our people have been supplied at lower rates 
than others, though all the water is pumped, and all departments 
of the city have been furnished with water free for many years. 
Nothing is put into the tax levy from year to year to swell the 
income, or to make up deficiencies in the water department, as 
is done in some other places. 

In connection with the financial history of the water-works 
there are some other points that should be mentioned, in which 
it has been a help to the tax-payers in other city departments. 

1. In 1876, there were hard times, and many were out of 
work in the city, their families being in want. The city council 
passed an order appropriating $26,000 for relief, and directed 
the Water Board to spend it as best they could, paying the men 
one dollar per day, and settling every night. The Board was 



116 CAMBRIDGE WATER-WORKS. 

obliged to spend $28,000 more to create the work called for, 
and the work thus done proved of little or no value to the water- 
works, but £54,000 was contributed to help the poor of the city. 
Upon this sum the water-works has been paying- interest for 
the past eighteen years, at six per cent, per annum. 

2. Concord Avenue had been in a most deplorable condition 
for several years. The city had bought thirteen and one half 
acres of land in Belmont near Fresh Pond, that it was desirable 
to annex to Cambridge. Huron Street (now Huron Avenue) 
had been laid out seventy feet wide from Concord Avenue to 
the Watertown Branch of the Fitchburg Railroad. It was de- 
sirable that this should be continued to dishing Street, which 
would give an avenue surrounding all the land of the city 
bordering on Fresh Pond, which was fast assuming the appear- 
ance of a fine water park. An act was secured from the legis- 
lature giving the city the right " to lay out, construct, and main- 
tain Gushing, Grove, Washington, and Adams streets, and 
Concord Avenue, from Adams Street to Fresh Pond Avenue, 
and for laying out, grading, embellishing, and maintaining the 
grounds around Fresh Pond, and pay for the same out of the 
surplus water rates, after paying all interest on bonds, current 
expenses, and providing for the sinking fund, three per cent, as 
required by law." 

3. Under this authority the Street Department put Concord 
Turnpike in good repair in 1891, at an expense of $12,400. In 
1892, the Street Department widened Adams, Washington, 
Grove, and Cushing streets, and put them in good order, at an 
expense of $10,000. In 1893, two iron bridges were built on 
Huron Street extension, and the work of grading and making 
the street from the railroad to Cushing Street has been done, or 
is nearly completed, by the Street Department, at an expense of 
$27,022. Besides this, the Street Department has taken many 
thousand loads of gravel from land bought by the Water Board, 
paid for in the water bonds, upon the cost of which we are still 
paying the interest, but for which no allowance has been made 
to the Water Department. 

4. The making of Lake View Avenue from Concord Ave- 
nue, Fresh Pond Avenue, to the railroad station and pumping 
engine house, and filling and grading Worthington Street at 
an expense of about $50,000, was also paid for by the Water 
Department. 



FRESH POND PARK. 117 

N.ow let us summarize these things, say : — 

Amount expended to help the city poor $54,000.00 

Amount expended in constructing Lake View Avenue with 

sewer in same, etc 47,985.32 

Amount expended in repairing Concord Avenue 12,400.00 

Amount expended in widening Adams, Grove, and Cushing 

streets 10,000.00 

Amount expended on Cushing, Huron Street, and two bridges 27,022,00 

Making the total amount of $151,407.32 

representing some of the direct benefits rendered the city and paid 
for by the water-works in money procured by sale of water bonds, 
not counting the gravel taken. These statements are made to 
show what has been, in brief, the history, and to show the value 
of the water-works to the city of Cambridge, besides furnishing 
water for the citizens. To the credit of the city council it should 
be said that it has uniformly granted the needed appropria- 
tions asked for by the Water Board, and that without its hearty 
cooperation nothing could have been done, for the Water Board 
could spend no money until it had obtained authority from the 
city council. 

I have thus endeavored to set forth a few of the salient points 
in the history of our water-works. I have never before had a 
chance to inform so many on this subject, and never expect 
another such opportunity. 

Fresh Pond was ceded to the city of Cambridge by the 
Commonwealth for a reservoir in 1888, with power to take all 
the land and buildings around the pond for the purpose of pre- 
serving the purity of the water. Under this act the city has 
taken about 170 acres, and removed all buildings therefrom. 
The pond contains 160 acres, and a fine driveway has been con- 
structed all around its borders, nearly three miles long. With 
the water area aiid land taken, this makes a fine water park of 330 
acres. The surroundings of the park are being graded and laid 
out in an artistic way, beautifying the whole region and making- 
it one of the most attractive places in the suburbs of Boston. 

It will thus be seen that in an abundant supply of excellent 
water, not surpassed by that of any town or city in the Com- 
monwealth, and equaled by few, Cambridge presents one of 
the strongest inducements, with her " No License " record, for 
any who may be looking for a home where good water and good 



118 CAMBRIDGE WATER-WORKS. 

morals prevail, while at the same time manufacturers will find 
it for their interest to locate here where the land is reasonable, 
and moderate in price, the water rates low, and the facilities for 
doing business excellent. 

The water-works have, since the city purchased them, been 
managed by a Water Board, composed at first of the mayor 
(who then presided over the board of aldermen), and presi- 
dent of the common council ex officio, and five citizens, chosen 
one from each ward. Since the revised charter was adopted, 
the Water Board consists of the five citizens only, who have 
always served the city with no compensation, except the con- 
sciousness of serving the public in one of its most important 
departments. 

Editor's Note. — The above account of the water system of Cambridge 
cannot be considered complete without the additional statement that Mr. 
Kingsley was himself a member of the Water Board from 1865 to 1894, 
and that for f ourteen years of that time he served as its president. 



CAMBRIDGE PARKS. 

By HENRY D. YERXA, 

PRESIDENT OF THE PARK COMMISSION. 

This year we celebrate the anniversary of the incorporation 
of Cambridge as a city ; we consider what Cambridge is, what 
Cambridge shall be. In the strength of the intellectual life of 
the seat of Harvard University we have great faith. We be- 
lieve, too, that the political life of our city stands as an example 
of the success of a steady struggle for good government. If 
such be the truth, is it not worth our while to dwell for a time 
upon the outward form of our city, to learn what can be done 
to make Cambridge a fitting home for the life toward which 
many men look as toward that which is strong and good in our 
civilization ? 

Only after a city reaches that stage of existence when some 
parts at least have become crowded, does the realization of 
the need for open spaces make itself convincingly apparent. 
Indeed, it is only in the great European cities that we find the 
ideal development of lands given over to the use of the people, 
— in such vast centres as Paris, Berlin, Hamburg, and Lon- 
don. Elizur Wright has even said, in a description of London's 
magnificent parks, " London would go crazy without them." 
That Cambridge itself is becoming crowded is proved by the 
fact that an entire ward might be laid out with a population of 
one hundred people to the acre, while smaller districts are still 
more densely populated. Such being the condition, we cannot 
but ask ourselves what efforts we have made to give to every 
man, especially to those who are living under the least favor- 
able circumstances, opportunity to breathe pure air in the midst 
of natural beauty, a privilege which should become the birth- 
right of every dweller in an American city. 

It was not until 1892 that any special exertion was made to 
enlarge the public grounds. In that year, a committee of five 



120 CAMBRIDGE PARKS. 

was appointed by the late Hon. Alpheus B. Alger, then mayor, 
to consider the subject of parks. To General Hincks, the 
chairman, a strong man, eager always for the welfare of Cam- 
bridge, and especially earnest in his desire to take advantage 
of the possibilities of the city in this respect, thankfulness for 
our awakening to the needs of Cambridge along present park 
lines is largely due. In November of 1892, the report of the 
committee was rendered, and it showed how easily we had let 
the years slip by, and with how little we had been satisfied. In 
Ward One, we had Cambridge Common, Winthrop Square, 
Arsenal Square ; in Ward Two, Broadway Common ; in Ward 
Three, no open spaces ; in Ward Four, Washington Square, 
Hastings Square, and River Street Square ; in Ward Five, again, 
there was no open space. Fresh Pond Park, begun by the wise 
foresight of Chester W. Kingsley and his fellow-workers on 
the Water Board, had already been somewhat developed, and 
the esplanade of the Charles River Embankment Company, 
near Harvard Bridge, was in process of construction. 

The inadequacy of these grounds was most evident. East 
Cambridge, for instance, with its fifty-five people to each in- 
habited acre, had not a single breathing-space. Consequently, 
so strongly was the need of persistent and lasting effort for the 
development of the park system felt by the city government, 
urged by Mayor Bancroft in his inaugural address, that in 
August of the following year, 1893, Rev. John O'Brien, George 
Howland Cox, and Henry D. Yerxa were appointed park com- 
missioners, and since that time they have labored diligently to 
make Cambridge what all wish the city to be. Of course, the 
commission has been obliged to struggle with the difficulties of 
a city well on the road to a permanent form, not with the easier 
problem of laying out grounds with freedom of choice, as had 
been, of late, possible in some of our Western towns, organized 
by men from older cities, — men wise enough to see what the 
future bore in her hands. Yet, notwithstanding the difficulty, 
all have been ready to employ their wisest thought in building 
the earthworks of Cambridge. They have realized the perma- 
nency of the result of such endeavors ; that parks will not wear 
out, that though bridges, public buildings, water-works, sewers, 
and pavements must be replaced, " earth work," as President 
Eliot has well said, " is the most permanent of all the works of 
men." They have known what breathing-space means to the 



A SPECIMEN. 121 

people, to hard-working men, to weary mothers, to little chil- 
dren. They have not forgotten what Rev. D. N. Beach, whose 
loss as a citizen of Cambridge we so deeply regret, would call 
the transcendental aspects of the park system. Neither have 
they lost sight of the fact that parks are a good municipal 
investment for Cambridge. They have remembered that Balti- 
more, that Buffalo, that Boston, have all been able to show that 
their great parks, through the increased valuation of the sur- 
rounding territory, have already begun to pay for themselves. 
Though the sum to be expended by Cambridge during the next 
fifteen years will probably be about 12,000,000, they feel sure 
that, in time, through financial returns alone, the city will be 
the gainer from this improvement. 

From the report of 1892 it was easy to see where work was 
most urgently needed. That our present public grounds, 
planned in days when few in this country realized as many do 
to-day what parks may be, needed much improvement was per-' 
fectly plain to all, and instead of a barren space of ground, 
hardly more than a trodden desert, ornamented with a flagpole 
and a few trees planted with little consideration of the whole 
effect, we are to have, under the wise direction of the noted 
landscape architects, Olmsted, Olmsted & Eliot, plots which 
shall be, for all, true retreats from the busy hum of city life. 
On Broadway Common this process of change may first be 
watched. 

Of this proposed improvement Olmsted, Olmsted & Eliot 
say : " This small public ground contains two and six tenths 
acres. At the present time it is so cut up by cross-paths that 
its appearance is ruined. Neither is its present arrangement 
well adapted to serve the comfort of the women, children, and 
babies who frequent the place in summer." The plan provides 
convenient diagonal paths, while it preserves a considerable 
breadth of central lawn. For the children it suggests a gravel 
playing-space 150 feet long, placed near the Broadway bound- 
ary, so that a sunny exposure may be had. Seats placed here 
under a vineclad arbor will command the playground and the 
lawn, while the arbor and a dense shrubbery behind it will 
afford some shelter from north winds. 

The want for additional public grounds was seen to be most 
urgent in Ward Two, Ward Three, and also in Ward Five, in 
which, though the population is scattered as a whole, there is a 
crowded locality. 



122 CAMBRIDGE PARKS. 

After mucli deliberation, for the relief of East Cambridge it 
was decided to centre all effort in the development of the river 
front, not only because desirable land was unattainable else- 
where, but because the opportunity of enjoying- the river could 
then be given to the inhabitants of the most crowded portion of 
our city, into which residents are continually coming from Bos- 
ton, and where, without doubt, the history of the larger city 
in its successive stages is to be repeated. This stretch of water 
front lies between the West Boston and the Craigie bridges, 
opposite the Charlesbank, and occupies about one half the dis- 
tance from bridge to bridge. The sea-wall is already con- 
structed. Filling is in process. In time, this East Cambridge 
embankment will be to Cambridge what the Charlesbank is to 
Boston ; and that the Charlesbank is of service to Boston no 
one can doubt who considers that the attendance, during last 
summer, was somewhat over 1,000,000 ; that on summer nights 
it was not unusual to find as many as 10,000 people assembled 
there. 

In Ward Two, a tract of twelve acres off Cambridge Street, 
to be known as Cambridge Field, has been set aside as a per- 
manent open space. Sodding has been done ; nearly all the 
shrubbery plantations are finished ; all the trees are planted. 
Until the weather became too cold, the portions of the field 
which are finished made a popular resort. During the summer 
evenings and Sundays the walks have been crowded. Since 
cold weather set in, whenever practicable, the field has been 
flooded for skating. It is in this Cambridge Field that our 
citizens are for the first time to see a reservation of land im- 
proved from its very beginning, as the modern investigation of 
municipal needs has made possible, improved so as best to meet 
the needs of those people in the midst of whom the land lies. 
In no case is the satisfaction of the desire for beauty neglected, 
but, in addition to this, the lands have been so laid out that 
Cambridge Field will furnish a sporting-ground in both winter 
and summer for boys and men ; an outdoor gymnasium for 
girls ; a sand-court, where small children shall be allowed to 
play; and, most important of all, a central building. This 
central building or shelter is to serve as a meeting-place, and 
a refuge in case of sudden showers. In it will be a check-room 
for clothing, bats, balls, skates, and other articles. Light re- 
freshments, such as milk, beef-tea, coffee, and soda, will be 



TREATMENT OF THE RIVER BANK. 123 

served. Here will be the necessary closets and wash-rooms. 
To this building, also, will be joined a band stand. Thus, when 
Cambridge Field is completed, we shall have one more illus- 
tration of what seems to me a growing tendency in our local 
governments, the union of all for the good of all. 

In Ward Five, next to the Wyman School, Eindge Field has 
been the land selected for park purposes. Thus far, the field 
has been utilized as a playground, while a portion has been 
reserved as a nursery for shrubs and trees sufficient to supply 
the whole Cambridge system. How Rindge Field is to be 
developed is largely a question of the future. 

If these were all the lands Cambridge saw fit to offer, Cam- 
bridge would be poor indeed. We have, however, in addition, 
the river front, the development of which is to be the most 
extensive work undertaken, and the work which will bring most 
glory to the city, in the progress of which we rejoice, especially 
in this anniversary year. From West Boston Bridge to the Cam- 
bridge Hospital, in days to come, a drive along the borders of 
our Charles will be possible. By the side of the river, known 
to the Indians of long ago as Quineboquin, the crooked, we shall 
have over four miles of parkway. Only when this undertaking 
is finished shall we feel that we are worthy of our heritage, that 
our ever-flowing, ever-abiding stream has received due honor. 

Definite plans in regard to the treatment of the whole river 
bank have thus far been impossible. Two great obstacles have 
stood in the way, — lack of decision in regard to the permanent 
bridges, and delay in regard to the damming of the Charles, 
about which discussion has been warm. Nevertheless, Boston 
and Cambridge will soon decide on sites for bridges, and we 
look forward to the day when, if opposition, which depends 
largely upon a want of knowledge of facts and of the benefits 
to be conferred, cannot be overcome to such a degree that we 
may have a fresh-water basin, we shall, at least, have a dam 
across the Charles similar to that on the Thames above London, 
where the full incoming tide is allowed to sweep up the river, 
but on the ebb is kept back at half tide. Such a treatment 
would give us a salt-water basin of 646 acres between Craigie 
Bridge and the Cambridge Hospital. The best illustration of 
such a basin, as has again and again been pointed out, is the 
Alster at Hamburg. Picture to yourselves this sheet of water 
between Cambridge and Boston, never below half tide, with 



124 CAMBRIDGE PARKS. 

drives on both banks. Consider how launches may run from 
city to city, how men may start after a long day's work from 
many points near Beacon Street and land in almost any part of 
Cambridge, having had this little breathing-space in the fresh 
air and among beautiful surroundings. By these pleasant 
means, too, they may be brought close to their homes ; for by 
far the greater part of Cambridge lies within a' mile of the river 
bank. 

' Two miles along the Cambridge side of the basin from Har- 
vard Bridge will run a broad drive, with shady walks parallel 
to the shore, protected, if the salt-water basin be determined 
upon, by strong stone walls, rather than by the beaches and 
shrubs, which would be the only possibility if the basin were, as 
formerly proposed, a fresh-water park. Here and there between 
the trees those who walk will find resting-places, and, every now 
and then, a landing which will make short trips on the water 
tempting. At " Captain's Island," between Brookline and 
River streets, our open lands will broaden out into about thirty- 
eight acres, the largest park of the system. This reservation, 
nearly three times as large as all the public grounds in Cam- 
bridge previous to 1893, will be developed in much the same 
fashion as Cambridge Field. The island, though an island in 
name only, has the advantage of being close to the water, and 
it thus furnishes opportunity for boating, provisions for which 
will be furnished by the park department of the city. From 
River Street onwards, the drives and walks will occupy all the 
open space until near Boylston Street, a congested locality, 
where the reservation will again make it possible to offer more 
open spaces, and unusual conditions in the way of locations for 
boathouses, and for the encouragement of water sports. 

Continuing along the river bank, we shall soon catch glimpses 
of the Blue Hills of Milton, and, across the Soldier's Field, of 
the nearer Brookline and Brighton hills. Places crowded with 
historic associations will come to view, — the Lowell Willows ; 
across the Longfellow Garden, Craigie House ; then Elmwood, 
Lowell's house, in the distance. Now we shall pass the spot 
where Professor Horsford firmly believed the Norsemen had 
landed. Soon we may turn in one direction and enter the Bos- 
ton parks, or, in another, crossing Brattle Street and driving 
through what is now Fresh Pond Lane, reach our beautiful 
pond, set in the midst of surrounding hills, which Mr. Olmsted 



MR. LOWELL'S WORDS. 125 

has been free to call one of the finest natural features about 
Boston, a statement with which we, who know the spot, fully 
agree. In Fresh Pond Park, with its broad outlooks, improved 
as it will be by the able efforts of the Water Board, we have a 
goal where our drive may satisfactorily end. On that day in 
the future toward which we look when, in reality, we shall have 
taken this drive, we may perhaps call to mind Lowell's words: 
" I remembered people who must call upon the Berkshire hills 
to teach them what a painter autumn was, while close at hand, 
the Fresh Pond meadows made all oriels cheap with hues that 
showed as if a sunset cloud had been wrecked among the 
maples." 

When all is done, the entrances to Cambridge will, at last, 
be beautiful. The city that holds within itself treasures with 
which few can be compared will have border lands worthy of 
its riches. On that day, when all our plans have been made 
good, we shall have an outward form more nearly fitting- the 
best life of Cambridge ; and those of us who work many a 
day over the problems which shall bring forth " Greater Cam- 
bridge " feel that the beauty of this outward form will help 
us all, the least and the greatest, to realize for Cambridge the 
best life we can conceive. 



REAL-ESTATE INTERESTS OF CAMBRIDGE. 

By LEANDER M. HANNUM. 

If we recall the fact that soon after the first settlement of 
Cambridge, in the spring of 1631, it embraced a territory 
thirty-five miles in length, including the towns of Billerica, 
Bedford, Lexington, Arlington, Brighton, and Newton, we shall 
see that our area has greatly decreased, as the extreme length 
of our present territory is only four miles, and the total area 
about four thousand acres, in spite of the fact that by legislative 
acts of 1855 and 1880, portions of Watertown and Belmont were 
granted to Cambridge. 

It exalts our estimate of the earlier commercial importance 
of our city when we read that by an act of Congress approved 
January 11, 1805, it was enacted that Cambridge should be a 
port of delivery, and subject to the same-regulations as other ports 
of delivery in the United States. The custom-house was never 
built, yet under the stimulus given to real-estate interests by this 
act, large tracts of land on Broadway were sold with the condi- 
tion inserted in the deed that no building of other material than 
brick or stone, or less than three stories in height, should ever 
be erected on them. Our present fire-limit ordinance, which ap- 
plies only to our principal thoroughfares, is scarcely more severe. 
The condition has, however, been constantly violated, and but 
few buildings of the character named are found on the street 
after a period of nearly a century, during which our population 
has increased from two thousand to eighty-two thousand, and 
our valuation from less than two million dollars to more than 
eighty-two millions. 

Notwithstanding this large gain, at no period of our city's 
history has her growth been phenomenal or exceptional. Dur- 
ing the first two centuries after settlement this was especially 
true. For more than a century and a half, we learn from 
Paige's history, that part of the town lying eastwardly from 



FREIGHT FACILITIES. 127 

Quincy and Bow streets, generally called " The Neck," consisted 
of woodland, pasturage, swamps, and salt marsh. To overcome 
the natural disadvantages of grade under which the city suf- 
fered, the filling of a large section was necessary, including the 
channels formerly constructed for the passage of vessels, leaving 
only for such purpose the so-called Broad Canal, which affords 
access to many coal and lumber yards. The several legislative 
acts were approved as follows : That relating to the Washington 
Street district in 1869, to the Franklin and Sparks Streets dis- 
trict in 1872, and to the Miller River district in 1873. Under 
the provisions of these acts much land was surrendered to the 
city by the owners, and was later sold at about thirty per cent 
of its cost. 

In addition to the freight facilities afforded by the navigable 
river, the Boston and Albany and Boston and Maine railroads, 
in the easterly section, where are located the greater number of 
our large manufactories, and the Fitchburg railroad, in the 
westerly part, provide ample accommodation ; yet it is hoped 
ere long that a central local freight station will be furnished by 
the former road, to add to the convenience of a rapidly increas- 
ing traffic. There has been much discussion as to whether the 
removal of this branch of the Boston and Albany would not on 
the whole result to the advantage of the city, and there is no 
doubt that if the removal could be limited to the section be- 
tween Main Street and the Cottage Farm Station, great benefits 
would accrue to that most extensive unoccupied section of the 
city, to which the Harvard and Brookline bridges are imme- 
diately tributary. 

The advantages as a place of residence of the large area lying 
between the Boston and Albany railroad and the Charles 
River, and separated from it only by a boulevard two hundred 
feet in width, are presented elsewhere in this volume. The 
erection of substantial and attractive dwelling-houses fronting 
this boulevard cannot long be delayed, as its southerly exposure, 
the firm foundation for building without piling, its convenience 
to Boston, and other advantages, cannot fail to induce many of 
her business men to locate here. The extensive development 
of the adjacent lands reaching northerly and westerly, with 
the park improvements on the shores of the Charles, and the ex- 
tensive widening and improvement of streets connecting there- 
with, will certainly, within the next few years, work important 



128 REAL-ESTATE INTERESTS OF CAMBRIDGE. 

changes, all in the direction of valuable and substantial im- 
provement. 

In the mercantile houses of the city some recent improvement 
is noticeable. The exclusion of saloons from Cambridge nearly 
ten years since left vacant a large number of shops upon our 
principal thoroughfares, many of which had been cheaply con- 
structed ; and for the period of two or three years some of them 
were without tenants ; but gradually business which is of value 
to the community has provided occupation for many, while 
others have been rebuilt and better adapted to the needs of 
trade. 

The extension of Main Street (now called Massachusetts 
Avenue), through Front Street to the Harvard bridge, and 
the diversion of the larger part of the passenger travel over this 
route, has contributed to the centralization of trade, and the 
section of Main Street still retaining the name seems unlikely 
to present equal attractions for the more valuable store pur- 
poses. The business blocks recently built by F. A. Kennedy, 
A. P. Morse, G. K. Southwick, C. B. Moller, and H. Fitzger- 
ald on Massachusetts Avenue are a credit to the city, and are 
doubtless only the forerunners of others of like character in this 
neighborhood. 

In Harvard Square, another business centre, fewer recent 
improvements have been made, but the widening of Harvard 
Street at this point in 1894, and the further contemplated 
widening the present year between Dunster and Boylston 
Streets, — of the latter street its entire length, — will stimulate 
improvements in the business accommodations of this locality. 

In no part of the city has more ample and excellent provision 
for existing needs of the mercantile interests been made than in 
North Cambridge above Porter's Station, where the Henderson, 
Odd Fellows, and other fine blocks have lately been built. 

On Cambridge Street considerable improvement has taken 
place in the store properties within the past few years, and the 
large purchases of Middlesex County for a new Registry of 
Deeds building, together with the improvement of Binney fields 
for park purposes, render the street much more attractive, and 
increase the value of property on it. 

The extensive area filled by the East Cambridge Land Com- 
pany, which is made more accessible by the extension of First 
Street, has tempted many large manufactories to that region, 



HIGH HOUSES. 129 

and there is still abundant room for many more. This territory- 
is scarcely a mile from the northern depots of Boston, and the 
land is offered at moderate prices. 

It is interesting to note some of the changes which, in the 
course of the growth of the city, have taken place. The rapid 
introduction of manufacturing establishments near the shores 
of the river, in the easterly part of the city, has multiplied 
the number of homes for the wage-earner, and very many of 
those whose residences were there, desiring to improve their 
surroundings, have removed, and a considerable population 
has settled west of Prospect Street, which forms the easterly 
boundary of one of the pleasantest residential sections in 
Cambridge. 

Until very recently the height of the buildings in Cambridge 
has not exceeded four stories, and few have contained more than 
eight suites, yet two or more student dormitories built in 1895 
exceed that height, and Ware Hall contains fifty-six suites of 
three rooms each, and one large six-story block of twelve suites 
of ten rooms each, with elevators, on Massachusetts Avenue, 
has just been completed. Next season, a six-story block of 
like character will be built on Massachusetts (formerly North) 
Avenue, which will provide for thirty-six families. If our pres- 
ent population were distributed throughout our city on the lib- 
eral scale which formerly prevailed, each family being allowed 
a yard for light, air, and children's playground, there would not 
be a single unoccupied lot in Cambridge, and therefore we must 
patiently view the introduction of the various forms of apartment 
houses which promote a form of living which has many disadvan- 
tages, yet offers compensation in economy of labor and money. 

The extension of the West End Street Railway track through 
Concord and Huron Avenues, and the widening and extension 
of the latter avenue, have aided in the development of a large 
territory, much of which is at a considerable elevation, and over- 
looks Kingsley Park and Fresh Pond. A rapid growth in this 
section of our city may be predicted, as hundreds of acres of 
available land await and invite occupancy. 

It is impossible to measure the increased value to the real 
estate interests of Cambridge made by the park improvements, 
near the shores of the Charles River, the reconstruction of the 
Boylston and Brookline bridges, and the building of a bridge 
at the foot of Magazine Street, authorized by recent enactment. 



130 REAL-ESTATE INTERESTS OF CAMBRIDGE. 

Few cities enjoy or have left so long unimproved such opportu- 
nities as the river shore affords for a delighful park and drive- 
way, and the aroused public spirit, civic pride, and creative 
force of our citizens assure liberal expenditure and rapid prog- 
ress in this important work. Real estate interests thrive in a 
thriving community, and nowhere are the evidences of thrift 
more abundant and conclusive than in Cambridge to-day, for 
the following reasons among others : Its remarkable health- 
fulness ; its exceptional educational advantages ; its superior 
residential attractions ; its manufactories, their character and 
extent ; its excellent municipal government ; its pure and abun- 
dant water supply, furnished at low rates ; its moderate and 
annually decreasing rate of taxation ; its freedom from the 
saloon ; its transit facilities throughout the city, and to and 
from all parts of Boston and adjoining towns ; its ancient fame, 
historic associations and traditions ; the moral standing and 
general intelligence of its citizens ; the prevalence of " The 
Cambridge Idea," in municipal politics, which means the high- 
est civic development ; the strife for the ideal in municipal 
life. With such advantages, it is not surprising that the 
growth of the city is rapid, symmetrical, and healthful. No 
city offers greater inducements to the manufacturer. In the 
more desirable residential sections, both in the recently filled 
and newly developed lands near Harvard bridge, and other 
portions of Ward Four near the projected park and river way, 
and on the higher grounds of Wards One, Two, and Five, 
are several hundred acres of land offering every advantage for 
occupancy, and providing thousands of the finest and most 
desirable building sites, with an infinite variety of choice, and 
well suited for the homes of all classes, however modest or 
luxurious their requirements. In no community is the hand 
of welcome more readily or warmly extended to the worthy 
stranger, or the invitation more heartily given to dwell with 
us, and share the privileges which we so much enjoy and so 
highly prize. At this anniversary period, the citizens of Cam- 
bridge review with satisfaction and pride the memorable events 
in her long and honorable career, and they look forward with 
confidence and anticipation to a future bright with promise. 



THE HEALTH OF CAMBRIDGE. 

By HENRY P. WALCOTT, M. D., 

CHAIRMAN OF THE MASSACHUSETTS BOARD OF HEALTH. 

The health of the city of Cambridge is not a matter of guess- 
work, but stands accurately recorded in the pages of the regis- 
tration reports of the State and in the successive volumes of the 
Census of the United States. 

Of the diseases which prevailed here before the first regis- 
tration report in 1841, we know but little. When some disease 
broke out in the form of an epidemic — like smallpox, the dys- 
entery, or malignant sore-throat, we find contemporary records 
perhaps of the numbers of those dying from these diseases, but 
more than this we caunot now ascertain. 

The situation seems to have been always considered a health- 
ful one, however, notwithstanding the large area of low-lying 
land in the town itself and in the surrounding country. 

It would be supposed, probably, by most people, that the 
conditions of health in Cambridge and the neighboring city of 
Boston would be essentially the same, — the climate, the pres- 
ence of large areas of flats exposed at low tide, the general 
character of the population, are apparently the same. More- 
over, in Cambridge are also found large numbers of people liv- 
ing in tenement houses which are crowded and poorly provided 
with sanitary arrangements. 

By the Eleventh Census Cambridge has a density of popu- 
lation represented by 18.77 persons to the acre ; Boston, upon 
the same area, has only 18.51 persons. The most constant in- 
fluence unfavorable to health is generally considered to lie in 
the density of population. Bearing this fact in mind, it is a 
pleasant surprise to find that Cambridge has better conditions 
for health than Boston has, notwithstanding the greater density 
of population in the former. In Cambridge 19.89 persons died 
out of every 1,000 in the course of the census year ; in Boston 



132 THE HEALTH OF CAMBRIDGE. 

in the same year there died 24.79 out of every 1,000. That is 
to say, if Cambridge had been as unhealthy as Boston in this 
year, instead of losing by death 1,393 persons, there would have 
died 1,736. Even if nothing more than the money value of 
a man's life is to be considered in questions of the relative ad- 
vantages of various cities as juaces of residence, these 343 lives 
represent a considerable advantage for the city of Cambridge. 
Especially when it is remembered that it has been found by 
experience to be true, that for every person that dies two other 
persons will be constantly sick throughout the year. It is a 
matter, therefore, of the greatest consequence that a city should 
be able to offer the best possible conditions of health, in order 
to attract new citizens. 

The city has now a satisfactory system of sewerage — a water 
supply that is free from serious pollution, and a reasonable provi- 
sion of open spaces, — a hospital for contagious diseases in con- 
nection with the Cambridge Hospital, and a Board of Health 
which has been in existence for nearly twenty years. Under 
all these favoring influences the city has made a record in 
healthfulness of which she may well feel proud, for she stood 
at the head of the list of thirty-one registration cities which 
were selected for comparison from the whole country in the 
Tenth Census of the United States. In that year there died in 
Cambridge only 17.46 persons for 1,000 living, — a rate not 
equaled by any city of 50,000 inhabitants in the country. 



BURIAL-PLACES IN CAMBRIDGE. 

By GEORGE S. SAUNDERS, 

CHAIRMAN OF THE CAMBRIDGE CEMETERY COMMISSIONERS. 

Go where the ancient pathway guides, 

See where our sires laid down 
Their smiling habes, their cherished brides, 

The patriarchs of the town ; 
Hast thou a tear for buried love ? 

A sigh for transient power ? 
All that a century left above, 

Go, — read it in an hour! 

O. W. Holmes. 

As early as 1634-35, one John Pratt was granted two acres 
of land, described as situated " By the old Burying Place with- 
out the common pales." This deed indicates the first land used 
for burials, which was located, as nearly as can be ascertained, 
on the northerly corner of the present Ash and Brattle streets, 
outside of the stockade which was erected in 1632. Rev. Abiel 
Holmes, D. D., wrote in the year 1800, " that £60 was levied 
3d February, 1632, towards making a Palisado about the New 
Towne. This was actually made, and the fosse which was then 
dug is in some places visible to this day. It enclosed above one 
thousand acres." This in a measure protected the little town 
from Indians and wild beasts. This burial-place was discon- 
tinued when the present ancient ground on the corner of Massa- 
chusetts Avenue and Garden Street was set apart for burials, 
and ordered " paled in," early in 1635-36. 

One hundred years later, 1735, the town, with the assistance 
of the college, built a substantial stone wall in the front, on 
"Menotomy Road," 1 at a cost of £150. The College Records 
read : " Whereas there is a good stone wall erected round the 
Burying Place in Cambridge, and whereas there has been a 
regard to the College in building so good and handsome a wall 
1 Now Massachusetts Avenue. 



131 BURIAL-PLACES IN CAMBRIDGE. 

in the front, and the College has used, and expects to make use 
of the Burying Place, as Providence gives occasion for it, there- 
fore, Voted, that as soon as the said wall shall be completed, 
the Treasurer pay the sum of £25 to the Committee of the 
Town, Samuel Danforth, William Brattle, and Andrew Board- 
man, Esquires." 

This wall was removed some forty years since, and a wooden 
fence built, which in turn was taken away, and in 1893 the pres- 
ent substantial iron fence erected on Massachusetts Avenue, Gar- 
den Street, and the northerly boundary. This " God's Acre," 
as it is often called, contains the dust of many of the most emi- 
nent persons in Massachusetts : the early ministers of the town, 
Shepard, Mitchel, Oakes, Appleton, Hilliard, and others ; early 
presidents of Harvard College, Dunster, Chauncy, Willard ; the 
first settlers and proprietors, Simon Stone, Deacon Gregory 
Stone, Roger Harlakenden, John Bridge, Stephen Daye, Elijah 
Corlett ; and, later, the Lees, the Danas, Allstons, and Wares. 
It is much to be regretted that so many graves remain un- 
marked, and equally so that the names of tenants of many 
costly tombs are unknown by the very imperfect registration, or 
want of registration, in the town records. Some tombs of once 
prominent families, who have become extinct, were built on a 
level with the sod, and as no name or mark whatever is to be 
seen, are walked over unknown. Several of the substantial 
above - ground monuments had tablets inserted with names 
thereon, which have been broken out and lost, and only a blank 
aperture remains. This was caused largely by the scarcity 
of lead in the Revolution, when the lead in which the tablets 
were embedded was removed for bullet-making, at the same 
time that the old church building near by was desecrated. The 
Judge Trowbridge tomb, near the gateway, has been substan- 
tially indicated within a few years. Inclosed therein is the 
commingled dust of very eminent families for several genera- 
tions. Near this is the prominent Vassall monument, with the 
figures of a vase and the sun, the armorial bearings of the 
family. Near by is the ancient mutilated milestone, first placed 
near the " Old Court House," in the present Harvard Square, 
in 1734, on which is cut " 8 miles to Boston," the above date, 
and the initials " A. I.," of him who cut and first placed it. 
This directed travelers the way to Boston through Roxbury, 
over the only bridge that then crossed Charles River, to " Little 



GRA VES OF MINUTE-MEN. 135 

Cambridge," now Brighton. The above initials are explained 
on a headstone near by : " Here lyes buried the body of Mr. 
Abraham Ireland, who departed this life January 24th, 1753, 
in y e 81st year of his age. Pray God to give grace — To fly to 
Christ — To prepare for Eternity." 

In 1870, the city erected a simple but appropriate monument 
to mark the place of burial of a few of the Cambridge Minute- 
Men, killed April 19, 1775. On the occasion of its dedica- 
tion, November 3, 1870, Rev. Dr. McKenzie delivered a very 
interesting and suggestive address. He said most eloquently 
that it was pleasant for us to remember that our domain was 
wider then than now, and with a worthy pride we claim the 
glory of Menotomy for the praise of Cambridge. Arlington 
may guard their dust, Cambridge will overleap the narrow brook 
and claim them for her own, and let the 19th of April, 1775, 
hereafter be known, as it always should have been, as the day 
of the battle of Lexington, Concord, and Cambridge. More 
men were killed and wounded within the then limits of Cam- 
bridge than in all the other towns. With the names on the 
monument Dr. McKenzie also suggested adding the prophetic 
vision of Samuel Adams, " Oh ! what a glorious morning is 
this ! " The full inscription is : 

erected by the city, a. d. 1870 

to the memory of 

John Hicks, — William Marcy, — Moses Richardson, 

buried here. 

Jason Russell, — Jabez Wyman, — Jason Winship, 

buried in menotomy. 

men of cambridge, 

who fell in defence of the liberty of the people, 

APRIL 19TH, 1775. 
OH ! WHAT A (iLORIOUS MORNING IS THIS ! 

In searching in 1870, to find the place of burial preparatory to 
erecting this monument, excavations were made along the north- 
erly line of the grounds, and several skulls were found with 
bullet holes, showing where some of our killed at Bunker Hill 
were buried ; but the grave of Colonel Thomas Gardner, a 
prominent citizen of Cambridge, a member of the Congress at 
Watertown with General Joseph Warren, is unknown. He 
was mortally wounded at Bunker Hill. The first official order 
of General Washington here, July 4, 1775, was for full military 
honors at his funeral that day. Near this locality is the grave 



136 BURIAL-PLACES IN CAMBRIDGE. 

of John Hughes, a young man who died and was buried among 
strangers. The inscription on the headstone reads : " Beneath 
this tomb rests the remains of Mr. John Hughes, of Norwich 
in Connecticut. He died in his country's cause, July y e 25th, 
A. D. 1775, in y e 21st year of his age. 

Reader, 
death is a debt to nature due; 
as i have paid it, so must you." 

Another has a similar inscription to John Stearns, died August 
22, 1775, aged 23 years. The " mound," on the Garden Street 
side, incloses tombs of once prominent families, that of Deacon 
Gideon Frost, Deacon Josiah Moore, Major Jonas Wyeth, and 
probably of Israel Porter, of the Blue Anchor Hostelry. Op- 
posite, in the centre of the grounds, is the most prominent 
tomb, with this inscription, and many more lines of obituary : — 

in this tomb are deposited the remains of 

Thomas Lee, Esquire, 

a native of great britain, 

but for many years a citizen of america. 

death released him from his sufferings may 26th, 1797, 

in the 60th year of his age. 

Near the front boundary is a brick monument, covered with 
a massive stone block, on which is cut : — 

here lyeth interred ye body of 

Major-General Gookin, 

aged 75 years, 

who departed this life ye 19th of march, 1686-7. 

The tomb probably contains the remains of his family, includ- 
ing his son, the Rev. Nathaniel Gookin. General Gookin was 
an influential man in the early days of the colony. 

Near this are the tombs of Governor Belcher, Dr. Gamage, 
the Watsons, and the Munroes, level with the sod and un- 
marked. 

In the year 1845, Mr. William Thaddeus Harris published a 
very useful book of epitaphs from this old ground, " from the 
earliest date to the year 1800.*' In the years succeeding 1800, 
with a few exceptions, the names only, on the monuments 
erected since that date, are given. Therefore it is hoped that 



CEMETERY COMMISSIONERS. 137 

some modern Old Mortality, with the records of the first pro- 
prietors and the town, together with the needed tools of his 
profession in hand, will yet be commissioned to scan every 
stone, monument, and all records, for the names of those rest- 
ing- in this consecrated ground of the Fathers. We certainly 
owe this, ere it is too late, to those who shall come after us. 

The city of Cambridge should add an honor to its semi-centen- 
nial this year by erecting a simple monument or tablet near that 
of Jonathan Mitchel, in commemoration of Rev. Thomas Shep- 
ard, who died August 25, 1649. He made it possible for Cam- 
bridge to be honorably known everywhere as the " University 
City." An eye-witness and historian of his time says, " To 
make the whole world understand that spiritual learning was 
the thing they chiefly desired, to sanctify the other, and make 
the whole lump holy, and that learning, being set upon its right 
object, might not contend for error instead of truth, they chose 
this JPlace, being then under the orthodox and soul-flourishing 
Ministry of Mr. Thomas Shepheard." 

In 1885 the City Council placed this ancient burial-ground 
in charge of the Board of Cemetery Commissioners. By their 
direction it was thoroughly renovated, ornamental trees and 
shrubs were planted, the gravestones were righted and otherwise 
put in a condition suitably becoming the resting-place of so 
many of our honored dead. 

About the year 1811, with the continued growth of East 
Cambridge and Cambridgeport, the old ground had become 
crowded, and " more than once " entirely filled ; then an urgent 
call was made for another burial-place. Two and one fourth 
acres of ground were purchased on Broadway, at the corner of 
Norfolk Street. This was used nearly a half century, mostly 
by the inhabitants of those sections of the town, until the 
year 1854, when the present cemetery on Coolidge Avenue was 
laid out under the direction of a committee appointed by the 
city government. 

The services of consecration were held on the premises No- 
vember 1, 1854, and this beautiful spot was sacredly set apart 
for its new purpose. Remarks on the occasion were made 
by Hon. Abraham Edwards, then mayor, and the consecration 
address was given by Rev. John A. Albro, D. D., who aptly 
said in reference to the place : " Its locality, — its natural fea- 
tures, — its seclusion from the great thoroughfares of life, make 



138 BURIAL-PLACES IN CAMBRIDGE. 

it a spot preeminently adapted to the end for which it has been 
chosen. Within these grounds, and not far from where we are 
now standing, the first Christian proprietor of this soil, Simon 
Stone, a companion in faith and tribulation of our Shepard, 
and one of the noble band of Puritans, who first established the 
Church of God in this Town, built his dwelling, and planted 
trees which yet bear their fruit." The original purchase con- 
tained about twenty-five acres. Since then additions of land 
have been made on the northern boundary, and by the further 
purchase of the Winchester estate on the south, so that to-day 
the whole area is more than sixty acres. 

The Broadway ground was disused in 1865, by authority 
from the General Court, April 29th of that year, as follows : 
" Resolved, That the City Council of the City of Cambridge is 
hereby authorized, at the expense of the city, to remove the 
remains of the dead from the burial-ground between Broadway 
and Harvard Street in Ward number Two in said Cambridge, 
to the Cambridge cemetery, or such other burial-place in the 
vicinity of Cambridge as the relatives and friends of the de- 
ceased may designate and provide. Said ground shall be sur- 
rounded by suitable enclosures, and shall forever remain unused 
for a public street, unoccupied by any building, and kept open 
as a public park." 

This was faithfully carried out by the city council of 1868. 
Suitable walks were made, and ornamental trees, shrubbery, 
etc., planted, thus making of the old burial-place a pleasant, 
rural, public park. 

The care of the cemetery is under the charge of six commis- 
sioners, appointed by the mayor, and confirmed by the board of 
aldermen, their terms of office being for three years. In 1868 
a substantial ornamental stone building was erected, suited to 
the needs of the cemetery, with rooms for the superintendent 
and his assistants, and for funeral services. 

Twenty-five years ago a liberal area of ground was set apart 
as a burial-place for soldiers and sailors of the Grand Army of 
the Republic. This was decorated with a group of cannon, etc., 
given for the purpose by the United States Government. One 
hundred and twenty-four interments have been made, and the 
lot is now filled. Recently, another lot near the entrance way 
has been set apart for a similar purpose, making provision for 
two hundred and twenty burials. The number of interments, 



MOUNT AUBURN CEMETERY. 139 

including- the removals from the Broadway ground, since its 
consecration in 1854, have been twenty thousand one hundred 
and twenty-five. 

In 1892 an iron fence was constructed on Coolidge Avenue, 
together with a neat, substantial iron and stone gateway, in 
place of the original one of wood, built in 1854. 

By a wise foresight, a generation or more ago, this beautiful 
spot was selected as a place of burial. Through the liberal 
appropriations of the several city councils, it has been enlarged 
on either side, and with the faithful, judicious oversight of those 
intrusted with its care, this " City of the Dead " has reached 
its present attractive and satisfactory condition, sacred by many 
precious, holy associations, and hallowed as the resting-place of 
the honored and beloved who have passed from our sight. 1 

The picturesque grounds of Mount Auburn Cemetery are 
situated on the westerly boundary line of Cambridge. In the 
early settlement of the town, the tract was known as " Stone's 
Woods," being the northerly part of Simon Stone's farming 
lands, which were bounded on the south by Charles River. 
The woods were later known as Sweet Auburn, and were the 
property of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. In June, 
1831, this society, by an act of the legislature, was authorized 
to appropriate any part of its real estate for a rural cemetery 
or burial-ground. The design for such a cemetery had long 
been considered with approbation, and the favored opportunity 
of securing Sweet Auburn for the purpose was at once earnestly 
attempted. This tract is undulating, and contains bold emi- 
nences and attractive dales. The highest ground is one hun- 
dred and twenty-five feet above Charles River, and on it stands 
a stone tower sixty feet high. From the tower the " winding 
Charles," in all its beauty, can be seen in one direction ; the 
city of Boston, and the Blue Hills of Milton are in the distance ; 
Cambridge is near by, with the venerable and modern build- 
ings of Harvard University ; and in another direction is Fresh 
Pond, the source of our city's supply of water, surrounded by 
its woody, irregular shores and grand avenues for pleasure- 
driving. 

The first committee for the cemetery was composed of influ- 

1 I am indebted to Mr. William A. Saunders, a member of the first 
Board of Cemetery Commissioners, for many historical incidents and sug- 
gestions as herein set forth. 



140 BURIAL-PLACES IN CAMBRIDGE. 

ential men, the late Judge Story being chairman. It met 
August 3, 1831, and received a very encouraging report. 
August 8th, another committee was selected to procure a sur- 
vey, and a plan for laying out lots. This survey was by Alex- 
ander Wadsworth, civil engineer. 

The consecration of the cemetery occurred on Saturday, Sep- 
tember 24, 1831, the late Judge Story delivering the address, 
in " Consecration " Dell, as it has since been called. An audi- 
ence of two thousand persons, seated in a temporary amphi- 
theatre among the trees, added a scene of picturesque beauty 
to the impressive solemnity of the occasion. 

In the year 1835 the legislature incorporated the proprietors 
as the " Mount Auburn Corporation." The first purchase of 
land contained seventy-two acres ; the present area is one hun- 
dred and thirty-six acres. 

The first recorded burial is that of a child of James Boyd, of 
Roxbury, July 6, 1832, on Mountain Avenue ; the second, that 
of Mrs. Hastings, July 12, 1832, on the same avenue. 

On elevated ground, not far distant from the gateway, stands 
a chapel made of granite, of Gothic design. Within are mar- 
ble statues, in a sitting position, of the late Judge Story, and 
of John Winthrop, the first governor of Massachusetts. Two 
others standing, of John Adams, the second president of the 
United States, and James Otis, the patriot. The Sphinx, the 
Egyptian symbol of might and intelligence, was erected in 
1872, and fronts the chapel. It is a massive monument, recall- 
ing our civil war by its inscription, — 

AMERICAN UNION PRESERVED 

AMERICAN SLAVERY DESTROYED 

BY THE UPRISING OF A GREAT PEOPLE 

BY THE BLOOD OF FALLEN HEROES 

The gateway to the cemetery is built of Quincy granite, the 
design being taken from the entrance to an Egyptian temple. 
It bears the following in bold raised letters : — 

" Then shall the Dust return to the Earth as it was ; and the Spirit 
shall return unto God who gave it." 

Near this, at the entrance of a high natural ridge, with a level 
surface, running through the grounds, called " Indian Ridge," 
is the sarcophagus of Gaspar Spurzheim, the celebrated phre- 
nologist ; he died in 1832. Farther on is that of the poet 
Longfellow, who died in 1882. 



ILLUSTRIOUS NAMES. 141 

On Central Avenue, near the gateway, is the bronze statue, 
sitting, of Dr. Nathaniel Bowditch. 

On High Cedar Hill stands a beautiful marble temple ; be- 
neath which rest the remains of Hon. Samuel Appleton. 

Others eminent in public life rest here in this sacred soil : — 

Charles Sumner. Rufus Choate. 

Louis Agassiz. Rev. Wm. Ellery Channing. 

President C. C. Felton. Edwin Booth. 

Gov. Edward Everett. Charlotte Cushman. 

Gov. Emory Washburn. Joseph E. AVorcester. 

Anson Burlingame. Bishop Phillips Brooks. 

President Josiah Quincy. James Russell Lowell. 

John G. Palfrey. Rev. A. Holmes, D. D. 

President Sparks. Oliver Wendell Holmes. 
Robert C. Winthrop. 

On Gentian Path is a beautiful granite obelisk, erected by 
Thomas Dowse, on which is inscribed — 

to the memory of 

Benjamin Frank.lln, the Printer, 

the philosopher, 

the statesman, 

the patriot, 

who by his wisdom blessed his country, and his age, 

and bequeathed to the world an illustrious 

example of industry, integrity, 

and self-culture. 

born in boston, mdccvl, 

died in philadelphia, mdccxc 

The number of interments to January 1, 1896, is 30,861. 

Mount Auburn's greatest interest is in the fact that within 
this beautiful " City of the Dead " are gathered together those 
whose lives and characters are illustrious in the history of the 
country, and whose names are symbols of great achievements. 

The sixty-fourth annual report, January 1, 1896, shows its 
solid financial success. The several funds in care of the corpo- 
ration amount to the sum of -11,342,582, which began with the 
original purchase of 72 acres of ground, at a cost of $6,000. 

Outside of the cemetery grounds, the corporation owns some 
fifteen acres of land, a part adjoining the cemetery, on which 
are situated greenhouses of the latest model, a liberal homestead 
for the superintendent, and other buildings, stables, etc. 



HARVARD UNIVERSITY 

IN ITS RELATIONS TO THE CITY OF CAMBRIDGE. 
BY CHARLES WILLIAM ELIOT, LL. D., PRESIDENT. 

The President and Fellows of Harvard College own at 
present (April, 1896) 82^^ acres of land within the limits 
of the city of Cambridge, the total present area of the city, 
according to Paige, the historian of Cambridge, being about 
four and one-half square miles (2880 acres). The land now 
held by the President and Fellows has been acquired as a 
result of 107 separate negotiations, extending from 1G38 to the 
present day. The following table shows the nature of these 
transactions ; but in this table no account is made of transac- 
tions which did not relate to land now in possession of the 
university : — 

54 separate purchases. 

7 separate re-purchases of land previous^ sold by the University. 

8 separate devises and gifts. 

1 gift or purchase (Bradish lot on Holyoke Street, — mode of acquisi- 
tion uncertain). 
25 separate sales. 

4 separate sales of land, the whole or part of which was afterward 
bought back. 

7 or more contributions, or takings by the town or city, for laying out 
or widening streets. 

1 taking by the city for park purposes. 

107 transactions. 

Of this area of 82y 3 ^ 5 - acres, the town gave 3|-f acres. The 
rest of the area is the result of purchases, devises, and other 
gifts, offset in some measure by sales, contributions from col- 
lege land to streets, and takings by the town or city. 

The College Yard — as the inclosure between Massachusetts 
Avenue and Broadway, Peabody Street and Quincy Street is 
called — was acquired in twelve parcels in the course of two 



THE COLLEGE ESTATE. 143 

centuries, that is, between 1638 and 1835. The delta on which 
Memorial Hall stands was bought in two parcels between 1786 
and 1816, one of these parcels having been procured in one 
of the College Yard transactions. After these purchases were 
made, Cambridge Street and Broadway were laid out through 
them. The land north of Cambridge Street and south of Ever- 
ett Street was bought in thirteen parcels between 1816 and 
1839. Before many years had elapsed, considerable portions of 
this land were sold ; and there have been seven re-purchases of 
parts of the parcels thus sold. In this region the President and 
Fellows once owned more than twice the area which they now 
own ; but the sales made by the college were nevertheless judi- 
cious ; for land within this region has been repeatedly bought 
back at prices less than those for which it was sold by the col- 
lege with compound interest at five per cent, computed thereon. 
Of the laud procured for the Botanic Garden in 1818, nearly 
all still remains in the possession of the college, the missing 
area having been taken for widening streets. Across Garden 
Street from the Botanic Garden more than 600,000 feet of land 
were bought between 1841 and 1886 for the purposes of the 
Observatory ; but nearly one half of that area was subsequently 
sold. The land on which College House now stands was ac- 
quired in six parcels between 1772 and 1806, one parcel having 
been devised by Judge Lee, and the others having been bought. 
The acquisition of land by the President and Fellows has 
been going on gradually all through the existence of the insti- 
tution, but with different degrees of activity. The first lands 
acquired were the western part of the College Yard and the 
lots near Holyoke and Dunster streets. The enlargement of 
the College Yard to the eastward was the next object ; and then 
came the extensions to the north, namely, the Memorial Hall 
delta, the Old Gymnasium delta, and the purchases north of 
Kirkland Street. The Observatory lands were acquired later 
still, while Holmes Field and Jar vis Field were not purchased 
till after the Civil War. The university now owns land 
enough in Cambridge to make it certain that the setting of the 
university buildings will be an open one for many generations 
to come ; or, in other words, it will not be necessary that the 
university buildings should stand close upon the streets as 
houses stand in the densely built quarters of a city. They will 
continue to be surrounded by grass and trees, even though the 



144 HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 

number of students in Cambridge should be multiplied by three, 
four, or five in the centuries to come. This determination of 
the character of the university grounds is important to the 
city ; for the city has much to gain from the continued open- 
ness of the university grounds. The denser the population of 
Cambridge becomes, the more valuable to it will be the open 
spaces round the university buildings, particularly as it is 
beyond doubt that these open areas will as time goes on be 
kept in a more and more decorative condition. Great improve- 
ment in this respect has been made during the last twenty-five 
years. In 1869 there was a shabby board fence along the 
southern side of the College Yard almost all the way from 
Quincy Street to Wadsworth House ; and up to that time it 
had not been the custom to keep the College Yard in a neat 
and pleasing condition. 

There was a time when reservations for schools and colleges, 
churches and hospitals, were regarded with disfavor by some of 
the residents of Massachusetts towns and cities. They were 
held to be withdrawn from ordinary uses for residence or busi- 
ness, and therefore to be a burden on the city or town ; but 
the recent almost unanimous movement of the population of 
eastern Massachusetts in favor of large reservations for park 
purposes and for boulevards, and the almost universal regret 
that our public schoolhouses are not surrounded by suitable 
play-grounds, have opened the public mind to the perception 
of the general fact that a dense population absolutely needs 
numerous reservations in order to secure for itself a reasona- 
bly healthy and pleasurable existence. It needs open spaces 
for grass, trees, and flowers ; and for purposes of enjoyment 
it should live in daily sight of interesting and uplifting insti- 
tutions, suitably equipped with buildings and grounds. The 
proved commercial advantages of wide avenues have also 
taught the people that large areas can profitably be reserved 
from the ordinary uses of residence or business. Severe expe- 
rience has taught the urban populations of Massachusetts that 
it is of little use to erect fine buildings, unless they can be 
placed on fine sites. If a city hall of noble aspect is built on a 
narrow street, from which no one can survey its just propor- 
tions and elegant decoration, if a court-house is erected in a 
kind of pocket, so small that its facade cannot be seen as 
a whole from any single point except one too close for a general 



CAMBRIDGE VALUATIONS INCREASED. 145 

view, the money expended on these structures, so far as the 
enjoyment of the passer-by goes, is in large degree wasted. 
They may be convenient for the uses of the people who repair 
to their interiors ; but they cannot afford to the citizens of the 
place the satisfaction which comes from the unobstructed con- 
templation of noble buildings. Cambridge is old enough to 
have escaped the tiresome and wasteful laying-out in squares 
which deprives most American cities of fine sites for large 
buildings. It has many curving roads and irregular corner 
pieces, on which handsome buildings can be suitably disposed 
and displayed ; but as time goes on, it will have great reason to 
be thankful for the continuing openness of the eighty-two acres 
which belong to Harvard University. 

The population of Cambridge is considerably enlarged by the 
presence of the university. About three thousand students, 
out of the thirty-six hundred now in the university, live in 
Cambridge. In the long vacation nearly six hundred other 
students come for the numerous summer courses. More than 
one hundred of the teachers and other officers of the university 
occupy houses in Cambridge and maintain households therein. 
There are from one hundred and seventy-five to two hundred 
unmarried officers who live in or near the university. On the 
Catalogue of the year 1895-96, two hundred and fifty students 
give Cambridge as their home address. Every year a consider- 
able number of families move to Cambridge in order to educate 
their children at the university. Many families that -originally 
came to Cambridge, either to educate their children, or because 
the bread-winner became a university teacher, have remained 
in Cambridge. Some of the most famous houses in Cambridge 
to-day are houses built for or occupied by professors of a former 
generation. It is enough to mention the Norton, Palfrey, Agas- 
siz, Longfellow, and Lowell houses. Some of the largest tax- 
able properties in the city are to-day taxed here, because the 
university either brought to Cambridge, or kept in Cambridge, 
the creators or inheritors of these properties. Because of the 
presence of the university, Old Cambridge has always been the 
best residence quarter of the city, and it is likely to remain so. 

Within the last twenty years the university has begun to 
maintain collections of great interest and value, which are open 
to the public under suitable regulation. The Botanic Garden, 
the Museum of Comparative Zoology, the botanical and miner- 



146 HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 

alogical collections, the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and 
Ethnology, the Semitic Museum, and the Fogg Museum of 
Art, are all objects of interest to the Cambridge public. On 
Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday afternoons these collections 
are visited by large numbers of people, particularly from the 1st 
of April to the 1st of December. As the university becomes 
richer, this function towards the public will be more and more 
important. 

From the 1st of October to the 1st of May, the university 
provides a very large number of evening lectures which are 
open to the public. These lectures cover a wide range of sub- 
jects, and are generally given by eminent experts. They relate 
to history, political science, the fine arts, philosophy, and litera- 
ture, and afford to the Cambridge public many opportunities of 
seeing and hearing distinguished men, and of getting from the 
lecturers varied information and judicious incitement to good 
reading. It is Mr. Henry L. Higginson's desire to serve the offi- 
cers and students of the university which has caused an annual 
series of concerts to be given by the Boston Symphony Orches- 
tra in Sanders Theatre, — that admirable room for music. 

The University Chapel has become of late years a new centre 
of interest for residents of Cambridge. Throughout the year 
Sunday evening services are conducted there by eminent men of 
many different denominations — from Jew to Catholic — and 
from November to April short services are also held every 
Thursday afternoon. The chapel music has been made inter- 
esting, and helpful devotionally. The undenominational policy 
of the university makes its chapel a unique institution as a 
place both of worship and of moral and religious instruction. 
All sorts of Cambridge people resort to it, some occasionally 
and some habitually. 

The public schools of Cambridge are the better for the pres- 
ence of the university. A long line of presidents and profes- 
sors have taken strong interest in the Cambridge schools, and 
have contributed to their progress and wise management. The 
Cambridge High School has been for many years an exception- 
ally good one ; and since the division was made between the 
High school and the Latin school the same excellent quality has 
distinguished the Cambridge Latin School. In these schools 
hundreds of Cambridge children have been prepared for en- 
trance to the university. Any citizen of Cambridge, who can 



PRIVATE DORMITORIES. 147 

afford to maintain his children until they are ready to practice 
a profession, can be sure of their receiving the best liberal and 
professional education given in this country, while all the time 
his children may live economically at home. 

The establishment in Cambridge of the business of printing 
and binding books is historically due to the university. The 
first printing press in the colony belonged to Harvard College ; 
and ever since that first press was set up the business of print- 
ing has been successfully pursued here. With the development 
of the national territory and the national wealth the manufac- 
ture of books has been established at many other centres ; but 
at this moment three of the most important book presses in the 
country — presses in which the very best work is done — are 
situated in Cambridge. The business of lodging and boarding 
students is a considerable one in that part of the city called Old 
Cambridge. The university buildings do not provide cham- 
bers for even half the students ; and Memorial Hall and the 
Foxcroft Club together cannot furnish board to more than half 
of the members of the Cambridge departments of the uni- 
versity who have no homes in Cambridge. For lodging the 
richer class of students large and handsome private dormitories 
have of late years been erected, buildings which add consid- 
erably to the valuation of the city for purposes of taxation. 
These buildings become more and more substantial and elegant; 
and it seems probable that they will be a more and more im- 
portant element in the taxable property of the city. The first 
of these buildings was erected forty years ago by Mr. Charles 
C. Little, senior member of the well-known bookselling firm of 
Little & Brown. His example was not followed for several 
years ; but recently at least one new private dormitory has been 
erected every year, and the process is still going on. Hundreds 
of purveyors, mechanics, porters, cooks, waiters, chambermaids, 
laundresses, and laborers get their livelihood from the univer- 
sity and its students. 

It is not, however, the business interests of Cambridge which 
the university has done most to promote, large as have been its 
contributions direct and indirect to those interests. The whole 
character of the place as a residence has been strongly affected 
by the presence here for two centuries and a half of the univer- 
sity teachers, a group of men devoted, not to trade or manufac- 
tures, or money-making of any sort, but to the arts and sciences, 



148 HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 

to authorship and teaching, and in general to the intellectual 
and spiritual elements in the life of each succeeding generation. 
Cambridge is an interesting place to live in, because the poetry 
of Holmes, Longfellow, and Lowell has touched with the light 
of genius some of its streets, houses, churches, and graveyards, 
and made familiar to the imagination of thousands of persons 
who never saw them its river, marshes, and bridges. It adds 
to the interest of living in any place that famous authors have 
walked in its streets, and loved its highways and byways, and 
written of its elms, willows, and chestnuts, its robins and herons. 
The very names of Cambridge streets remind the dwellers in it 
of the biographies of Sparks, the sermons of Walker, the law- 
books of Story, the orations of Everett, and the presidencies of 
Dunster, Chauncy, Willard, Kirkland, and Quincy. Cambridge 
is associated in the minds of thousands of Americans with sci- 
entific achievements of lasting worth. Here lived Dr. Benjamin 
Waterhouse, the first Hersey professor of physic, who intro- 
duced the kine-pox into America, and John Winthrop, Hollis 
professor of natural philosophy from 1738 to 1779, one of the 
very earliest students of the phenomena of earthquakes, the 
friend and correspondent of Benjamin Franklin, and the man 
whose lectures Benjamin Thompson (Count Rumford) walked 
from Woburn to hear. For two generations Asa Gray has 
turned the thoughts of innumerable students of botany, young 
and old, to Cambridge as the place where their guide into 
botanical science lived and wrote. For two hundred and sixty 
years the lamp of philosophy has been kept burning in this 
quiet town, and that illumination makes it a brighter place to 
live in for the present and the coming generations. Amid the 
universal struggles to get a livelihood, to make money, and to 
keep money, here is a place where hundreds of men live quite 
apart from that common quest. Here live hundreds of men 
who, having secured a modest but sure livelihood for themselves 
and their families, work in the main without thought of money, 
with their minds bent on intellectual pursuits, and kindled by 
enthusiasms which have nothing material as their end. What 
a cheerful presence in the city is the ever-rising tide of healthy, 
manly youth, full of hope, ambition, and high-minded purpose, 
making ready for worthy service in the outer world, but not yet 
burdened by its cares and griefs ! 

On one of the highest knolls of Cambridge stands the Astro- 



THE INTEREST OF VISITORS. 149 

nomical Observatory, a conspicuous and accurate type, in spirit 
and nature, of several other departments of the university. It 
is constantly at work trying to learn more truth about the heav- 
enly bodies, — confident that the truth will somehow and some- 
where prove serviceable, — but taking no account of immediate 
utilities. From the top of the Observatory one overlooks the 
homes and working-places of as comfortable and happy a popula- 
tion as the wox'ld contains, and can almost hear the hum of their 
industries, and feel the throb of their multitudinous joys and 
sorrows ; yet with the daily cares and labors of that population 
the Observatory has nothing to do. It lives a life apart, devoted 
to observation and study of sun, moon, and planets, of comets 
and meteors, and of the stars, conscious indeed that navigation 
and time-keeping depend on these studies, but keeping iu imme- 
diate view only the instant search for new truth. 

It is natural that Cambridge should be an object of great 
interest to visitors from other parts of the country, and it is 
pleasant to live in a place which has such attractions. Few 
educated people from the West and the South come to New Eng- 
land without visiting this city, — so full of historical, literary, 
and scientific associations. The summer visitors to Boston reg- 
ularly make pilgrimages to the College Yard, Memorial Hall, 
the Museum, the old graveyard between the two churches, the 
Washington Elm, Brattle Street, and Elmwood Avenue. Many 
graduates of the university, whose lives are spent in places 
remote from Cambridge, return thither from time to time to 
refresh their recollections and to watch the progress of improve- 
ments. As a rule these men return with feelings of affection 
and gratitude. These sentiments, felt by thousands of men, 
ennoble the city and make it a worthier dwelling-place. 



HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 
By BYRON SATTERLEE HURLBUT, A.M., 

RECORDING SECRETARY OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 

In the office of the President of Harvard College, in Univer- 
sity Hall, Cambridge, there hangs, framed in a narrow band 
of oak, a card, perhaps thirty inches long and twelve wide. 
On this are printed these inscriptions, which in a few words tell 
the origin, the history, and the purpose of Harvard : — 



150 HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 

" Harvard University is a chartered and endowed institution fos- 
tered by the state. 

" The Charter, given to the President and Fellows in 1650, is still in 
force unaltered. 

" The direct grants of money made by the Legislature of Massa- 
chusetts to Harvard College between 1636 and 1785 amounted to 
$116,000. In 1814, the Legislature granted $10,000 a year for ten 
years. 

" Between 1638 and 1724 the town of Cambridge repeatedly gave 
land to the College. 

" In common with other Massachusetts institutions of education, 
religion, and charity, the University enjoys exemption from taxation 
on its personal property, and on real estate occupied for its own pur- 
poses. 

" Beginning with John Harvard in 1638, private benefactors have 
given to the University in land, buildings, and money at least 
$11,000,000. 

" The principal objects of permanent endowment have been as fol- 
lows : — 

1. Instruction and research. 

(a. Professorships. 
b. Observatories, laboratories, and workshops.) 

2. Collections. (Libraries, Museums, Gardens, and Arboretum.) 

3. Aid for Students. (Scholarships, Fellowships, and other aids.) 

4. Prizes. (For essays, versions, and speaking.) 

5. Publications. (Annals, Journals, Memoirs, Monographs, and 

Bulletins.) 

6. Administration. (Salaries in administrative offices, libraries, 

and collections.) " 

Below these inscriptions are two more, one speaking of John 
Harvard : — 

" John Harvard was a Master of Arts of Emmanuel College, Cam- 
bridge, England, founded by Sir Walter Mildmay." 

The second is a quotation from Thomas Fuller's " History of 
the University of Cambridge " (1655), and speaks thus of Sir 
Walter Mildmay : — 

" Coming to Couvt after he had founded his Colledge, the Queen told 
him, Sir Walter, I hear you have erected a Puritan Foundation. No, 
Madam, saith he, farre be it from me to countenance anything con- 
trary to your established Lawes, but I have set an Acorn, which when 
it becomes an Oake, God alone knows what will be the fruit thereof." 



THE DEPARTMENTS. 151 

From the oak which Sir Walter planted thus, three centuries 
ago, sprang Harvard College, the oldest institution of learning 
in America. 

The university of to-day includes the college of the older 
days, and eight schools: the Graduate School, the Lawrence 
Scientific School, the School of Law, of Medicine, of Divinity, 
of Dentistry, of Veterinary Medicine, and that of Agriculture 
and Horticulture, in which, during the academic year 1895-96, 
instruction is given to three thousand six hundred students by 
three hundred and sixty-six teachers. Moreover, the univer- 
sity is not idle during the long vacation ; for six weeks the 
Summer School is in session. In 1895 the students in this 
school numbered five hundred and seventy-five. Thus, in a sin- 
gle year, the university has given instruction to more than four 
thousand students. 

In matters of administration three of the departments of the 
university are closely united : Harvard College, the Lawrence 
Scientific School, and the Graduate School are under the charge 
of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, which, however, delegates 
to an administrative board, appointed for each, minor questions 
of government and administration. To the students under its 
control this Faculty offers four hundred and thirty-seven courses 
of instruction, divided among the following subjects : Semitic 
Languages and History ; Indo - Iranian Languages ; Greek ; 
Latin ; English ; German ; French ; Italian ; Spanish ; Ko- 
mance Philology ; Comparative Literature ; Philosophy ; His- 
tory ; Government ; Economics ; Fine Arts ; Architecture ; 
Music ; Mathematics ; Engineering ; Physics ; Chemistry ; Bot- 
any ; Zoology ; Geology ; Mineralogy and Petrography ; Amer- 
ican Archaeology and Ethnology ; Anatomy, Physiology, and 
Physical Training ; and Military Science. 

Harvard College, from which the university has grown, is the 
oldest and largest of the departments of the institution. Its 
standard of admission and its requirements for the degree of 
Bachelor of Arts are higher than those of any other Amer- 
ican college or university. The requirements for admission, 
however, are not rigid, for a student may be admitted on any 
one of four plans of study. Within the college still greater 
freedom awaits him ; once a member of the university he may 
with hardly a single restriction choose his own course, select- 
ing those studies which inclination, his natural aptitude, or his 



152 HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 

future occupation points out as best fitted to equip him for the 
world. He is not, however, left to select his courses heedlessly. 
As a Freshman he must secure for his plan of study for the 
year the approval of an instructor, who is appointed to act as his 
adviser, and although as a Sophomore he is free to choose for 
himself, he nevertheless is encouraged to seek the advice of his 
instructors, that he may make the best use of his freedom. To 
secure the degree of Bachelor of Arts he must have passed with 
at least a certain prescribed rank in eighteen courses of study, 
two of which are prescribed courses in English, and he must 
have some knowledge of both German and French, if he had it 
not when he entered college. Except for these restrictions his 
course is • what he himself determines ; he is what he elects to 
be. Neither is the period of residence at the college abso- 
lutely fixed ; the usual term of residence for the degree is four 
years, but students from other colleges are admitted to advanced 
standing, and those who in three years complete with distinc- 
tion the required number of courses are, upon the recommenda- 
tion of a committee of the Faculty, allowed to graduate at the 
end of that period. 

This, then, is the framework, the fleshless skeleton, of a stu- 
dent's career at Harvai'd College. This is his education in 
books. Beyond this, equal in value, there is the education 
that he gains from intercourse with his fellow-students, in ex- 
ercise, and athletic sports, in social and dining clubs, in soci- 
eties founded in a common interest in study, or religion, or a 
desire to help his fellow-men less fortunate than himself, the 
avocations which make him a well-rounded man, fully developed 
in body and mind and spirit, — without which his mere study 
of books might leave him dwarfed and narrow-souled. 

Side by side the college student and the student of the Sci- 
entific School do much of their work. The latter, it is true, is 
receiving a professional training, but with it he gains, uncon- 
sciously, perhaps, more liberal views of life, a more cultured 
spirit, more of the "humanities,'" than does he who is trained in 
an isolated professional school. The advantage, however, is not 
his alone ; his example of steady aim and fixed purpose helps 
his college fellow to shape his own life to a definite end. Thus 
it is that the close union of Harvard College and the Lawrence 
Scientific School is peculiarly fortunate ; each reacts helpfully 
upon the other. 



THE SCIENTIFIC AND GRADUATE SCHOOLS. 153 

Never in its history has the Scientific School been as pros- 
perous as it is to-day. In a decade the number of its students 
has swelled from twenty-two to three hundred and forty, an 
increase brought about largely by the great development of 
its field of instruction, and the systematic arrangement of its 
courses. The school offers eleven courses of study, — Civil and 
Topographical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechan- 
ical Engineering, Mining Engineering, Architecture, Chemistry, 
Geology, Botany and Zoology, General Science, Science for 
Teachers, and Anatomy, Physiology, and Physical Training. 
On the completion of any one of these courses with at least a 
certain rank, a student is awarded the degree of Bachelor of 
Science. The usual term of residence and study for the degree 
is four years, but here, as in the college, students are admitted 
to advanced standing either upon examination or satisfactory 
evidence of work done at other schools. The requirements for 
admission are not so severe as are those for admission to Har- 
vard College ; the standard of work, however, is high, and de- 
mands most faithful study. In this respect, the Faculty of Arts 
and Sciences makes no distinction between the college student 
and the scientific : both are subject to the same laws. So, too, 
in the undergraduate world itself no lines are drawn ; in soci- 
eties, in athletics, in all the affairs of student life, members of 
the two departments are on an equal footing. 

The Graduate School, which numbers two hundred and sixty- 
nine resident and sixteen non-resident students, offers to gradu- 
ates of colleges and like institutions of learning opportunities 
to carry on advanced study in the various departments of in- 
struction under the charge of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. 
The growth of this school has been so gradual and so quiet that 
some have failed to realize how important a part of the univer- 
sity it has become. It stands to-day for the higher education, 
for the deepest and broadest learning. To it come serious men 
who love knowledge and the increase of knowledge, men who 
have dedicated themselves to learning. The greater part of 
this body of students go out from the school to teach, — they 
are scattered in all parts of the country ; and in this fact one 
may see how much the Graduate School does to strengthen the 
influence of the university, to aid the cause of higher education. 
Year by year the school grows, its influence ever broadening ; 
every year the number of colleges sending students to it in- 



154 HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 

creases. This present year it numbers among its students grad- 
uates of a hundred different colleges and higher institutions of 
learning. 

For admission to the school a candidate must give satisfac- 
tory evidence of scholarship. Once admitted, he is not neces- 
sarily a candidate for a degree ; this depends upon other consid- 
erations. The degrees for which he may become a candidate 
are those of Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts, Doctor of Philo- 
sophy, and Doctor of Science. 

For admission to the Divinity School a candidate " must furnish 
testimonials of character and scholarship," and to be a candidate 
for the degree of Bachelor of Divinity he " must have received 
the degree of Bachelor of Arts, representing a course of study 
approved by the Faculty." If he has not this degree, he must 
satisfy the Faculty that his " education has been equal to that of 
graduates of the best New England college." In this, as in the 
other schools, men are admitted to advanced standing, and they 
may also enter the school as special students. To obtain the 
degree of Bachelor of Divinity a student must be properly qual- 
ified, and must have been " connected with the school for not 
less than one year, and have passed satisfactorily examinations " 
on a prescribed amount of work. In addition to conferences 
and general exercises, such as preaching and the conducting of 
morning and evening prayers, the school requires that a student 
shall pursue a certain number of courses of study chosen from 
among the following subjects, — Old Testament, New Testa- 
ment, Church History, Comparative Keligion, Ethics, Sociol- 
ogy, Theology, and Homiletics and Pastoral Care. Instruction 
in Elocution is also given. The instruction in the school is non- 
sectarian ; the eleven officers and teachers on its staff, repre- 
senting various denominations, unite in encouraging an unfet- 
tered search for truth. 

In 1882 a generous benefactor gave to the university for its 
Law School a new hall, which, it was calculated, would accom- 
modate the growth of the school for half a century. In a sin- 
gle decade the school has outgrown this building ; in 1896 the 
students number four hundred and sixty -five. This rapid 
growth and the great prosperity of the present are in large 
measure due to the method of instruction pursued in the school, 
the so-called " Case System," in which students, instead of 
committing to memory textbooks, study actual cases, and from 



THE LAW SCHOOL. 155 

these deduce the principles of law ; a system, which, adopted 
first at Harvard, has revolutionized the study of the law. " The 
design of this school," the catalogue of the university says, " is 
to afford such a training in the fundamental principles of Eng- 
lish and American law as will constitute the best preparation 
for the practice of the profession in any place where this system 
prevails." To this end, therefore, a student is not drilled in 
the peculiar law of any one State, but in the general principles 
of law, a training which best fits him to understand the living 
law, and thus enables him better to adjust himself to the details 
of the law in that State in which he may chance to be. The 
study of details of law in particular States is ancillary to that 
of general principles. 

The Faculty of the school offers courses in Contracts, Crim- 
inal Law and Procedure, Property, Torts, Civil Procedure at 
Common Law, Agency, Bills of Exchange and Promissory 
Notes, Carriers, Contracts and Quasi-Contracts, Evidence, In- 
surance, Jurisdiction and Procedure in Equity, Law of Persons, 
Interpretation of Statutes, Sales of Personal Property, Trusts, 
Damages, Constitutional Law, Corporations, Partnership, Sure- 
tyship, and Conflict of Laws. Extra courses are also provided, 
— the Peculiarities of Massachusetts Law and Practice, and 
Civil Procedure under the New York Code. Furthermore, 
" every student who has been in the school one year or more 
has an opportunity each year of arguing in a moot court case 
before one of the professors ; " additional practice may also be 
gained in the law clubs. 

Upon graduates of the school is conferred the degree of 
Bachelor of Laws, for which the usual term of residence is 
three years. For admission to regular standing in the school 
a candidate must be the holder of an academic degree in Arts, 
Literature, Philosophy, or Science, of a reputable college or 
university, or a person qualified to enter the Senior Class of 
Harvard College. Such candidates are admitted without ex- 
amination. The list of colleges, which at present includes one 
hundred and thirty-five, whose graduates are entitled to ad- 
mission, is made up from the " colleges whose graduates have 
entered the school in recent years. It is accordingly not in- 
tended to be exhaustive, and will doubtless be enlarged from 
time to time." Candidates who do not meet the requirements 
for regular standing may upon evidence of work done, or upon 



156 HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 

examination, be admitted as special students, and upon obtain- 
ing a certain prescribed rank may receive the degree of Bach- 
elor of Laws. Students are also admitted to advanced stand- 
ing, and opportunities for advanced study are given to grad- 
uates. 

For admission to the Medical School candidates must pass 
examinations in certain prescribed subjects, but those who pre- 
sent a " degree in Letters, Science, or Medicine are exempt " 
from all examinations except that in chemistry. The examina- 
tions for admission to this school are not as severe as those for 
admission to Harvard College ; but in medicine, as in law, those 
who have had a college training have distinct advantages over 
those not thus equipped. The students in the school number 
five hundred and thirty-one ; the teachers, sixty-five. 

The following courses of instruction are offered : Anatomy, 
Histology and Embryology, Bacteriology, Physiology, Chemis- 
try, Hygiene, Therapeutics and Materia Medica, Pathology and 
Pathological Anatomy, Surgery, Orthopedic Surgery, Clinical 
Surgery, Dermatology, Theory aud Practice of Physic, Clinical 
Medicine, Neurology, Psychiatry, Pediatrics, Obstetrics, Gyne- 
cology, Ovarian Tumors, Syphilis, Ophthalmology, Otology, Dis- 
eases of the Throat and Nose, Diseases of the Genito-Urinary 
Apparatus, Legal Medicine, Municipal Sanitation, Clinical Mi- 
croscopy, Cookery, and Orthopedics. Instruction is given not 
by lectures only, but by an abundance of practical exercises 
under the supervision of instructors, with the design that a stu- 
dent shall learn to rely upon himself ; that his knowledge shall 
not be merely theoretical. Furthermore, the students secure in 
the hospitals of Boston those especial advantages for study and 
observation which are found in large cities only. A student 
who satisfactorily completes the requii-ed course of study is 
awarded the degree of Doctor of Medicine. The usual term of 
residence for the degree is four years, but students are, upon 
satisfactory evidence, admitted to advanced standing. Oppor- 
tunities for research and for advanced study are offered to 
graduate students. 

For admission to the Dental School the requirements are 
akin to those for admission to the Medical School. The meth- 
ods of instruction, too, in the two schools are similar. To the 
student of dentistry the following courses are offered : Anatomy, 
Physiology, Chemistiy, Histology and Embryology, Bacteriol- 



VETERINARY MEDICINE, AND AGRICULTURE. 157 

ogy, Operative Dentistry, Mechanical Dentistry, Surgery, Oper- 
ative Surgery, Dental Pathology, Oral Anatomy and Physiology, 
Surgical Patholog}% Materia Medica, Orthodontia, Neurology, 
and Crown and Bridge Work. The degree conferred upon 
graduates of the school is that of Doctor of Dental Medicine. 
The number of students in the school in 1896 is one hundred 
and two. The Faculty and other instructors number thirty- 
nine. 

The School of Veterinary Medicine, which, like the Dental 
and the Medical schools, is established in Boston, has fifty-five 
students and a staff of twenty-two teachers and officers. It 
offers instruction in Anatomy, Physiology, Chemistry, Botany, 
Materia Medica and Therapeutics, Pathology and Pathological 
Anatomy, Surgery, Ophthalmology, Parasitic Diseases, Theory 
and Practice, Obstetrics, Warranty and Evidence, Meat Inspec- 
tion, and Clinical Veterinary Medicine and Surgery. Here, as 
in the other schools of medicine, especial attention is given to 
practical instruction. The degree which is conferred upon stu- 
dents who satisfactorily complete the course of study is that 
of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine ; the usual term of residence 
and study is three years. Students are admitted to the school 
upon the presentation of certificates of admission to recognized 
colleges or scientific schools, or upon examination. 

The Bussey Institution, a school of Agriculture and Horticul- 
ture, is established at Jamaica Plain. It gives " systematic 
instruction in Agriculture, and in Useful and Ornamental Gar- 
dening. ... It is, in general, meant for young men who intend 
to become farmers, gardeners, florists, or landscape gardeners ; 
as well as for those who will naturally be called upon to man- 
age large estates, or who w T ish to qualify themselves to be 
overseers or superintendents of farms, country seats, or public 
institutions." Instruction is given in the Theory and Practice 
of Farming, Horticulture, Agricultural Chemistry, and Rural 
Hygiene, by a staff of seven instructors. The students in the 
school number fifteen. The degree of Bachelor of Agricultural 
Science is conferred upon graduates. 

Within late years there has grown up at the university 
another department, the value of whose far-reaching influence it 
would be difficult to overestimate. This is the Summer School. 
The students in this school are chiefly teachers drawn hither 
from all parts of the country, from Maine to California, from 



158 HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 

Minnesota to Texas, to enjoy the advantages that the univer- 
sity offers in its libraries and museums, to receive instruction, 
and to learn Harvard methods of teaching. From the incep- 
tion of the school the number of its students has steadily 
grown, until in 1895 five hundred and seventy-five were regis- 
tered. For the summer of 1896 the school offers at Harvard 
College and the Lawrence Scientific School courses in English, 
German, French, Mathematics, Engineering, Physics, Chemis- 
try, Geology, General American History, Education and Teach- 
ing, Freehand Drawing, Botany, Physiology and Hygiene for 
Teachers, Physical Training, and Latin, and also courses at the 
Medical School and the Dental School. 

To foster the physical and the intellectual development of 
the students Harvard provides ample foundations which here 
can only be mentioned : the Gymnasium, the Carey Building, 
the University Boat House, the Weld Boat Club, Holmes Field, 
Jarvis Field, and the Soldier's Field ; the College Library, and 
thirty-four school, departmental, laboratory, and class-room libra- 
ries, possessing 466,410 volumes, and a collection of pamphlets 
and maps estimated to be equal in number ; the Chemical Labo- 
ratory ; the Jefferson Physical Laboratory ; the University Mu- 
seum, consisting of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, with 
its laboratories of Zoology, Palaeontology, Entomology, Geol- 
ogy, Petrography, and Physical Geography ; the Botanical 
Museum, with laboratories of Cryptogamic and Phanerogamic 
Botany ; the Mineralogical Museum and laboratories ; and the 
Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology ; 
the Semitic Museum ; the Botanic Garden and Herbarium ; 
the Astronomical Observatory ; and the Arnold Arboretum. 

The religious life of the university finds its centre in the 
services of the Chapel, and its guiding influence in the board 
of university preachers, each of whom, during his term of resi- 
dence, not only conducts the public religious services, but also 
stands ready to aid any student who may seek him. From this 
centre radiates the religious life of the university, which finds 
expression in the religious societies and the little bands organ- 
ized to work among the poor and the unfortunate. 

To provide for the maintenance of the university, men have 
given of their store, small or great, for more than two centu- 
ries and a half. In the days of poverty and struggle, when 
money was scarce in the colony, they gave of the produce of 



"HARVARD INDIFFERENCE." 159 

their land in proportion to that which God had given them. 
With the increase of prosperity, they have given not more liber- 
ally but more largely, until, to-day, the value of the possessions 
of the university in land, buildings, and money amounts to fully 
thirteen millions of dollars. Of this more than eight millions 
represent what may be called " quick capital ; " five millions 
are invested in lands, buildings, and collections used for uni- 
versity purposes. The lands owned and occupied by the univer- 
sity, the College Yard and the adjoining fields, the Soldier's 
Field, the Gardens, the Observatory grounds, the Arboretum, 
the Bussey lands and other lands in Cambridge, Boston, and 
neighboring towns, amount to nearly seven hundred acres. 
The buildings owned by the university and occupied for its 
purposes are more than sixty : of the principal buildings fif- 
teen are dormitories ; thirty-five are variously used as lecture- 
rooms, offices, observatories, laboratories, museums, libraries, 
dining-halls, and buildings devoted to athletic purposes. From 
its invested funds, tuition-fees, rents, and other sources of in- 
come, the university received, in 1894-95, one million eighty- 
four thousand and ninety dollars, of which fully ninety thou- 
sand dollars was awarded to meritorious students in the form 
of scholarships, fellowships, and various other aids. 

Such is the outward, the physical Harvard. More impor- 
tant, however, than the outward showing of a college is the spirit 
which animates its students. Unthinking men have long mis- 
understood the spirit of Harvard, perhaps because at Cambridge 
men do not talk much of spirit ; they know that talk means 
little in the struggle of life, that action counts. Even gradu- 
ates of the university fail to realize how strong this spirit is in 
the college world. 

From the world outside there comes a cry that Harvard is 
indifferent, — yet nothing is falser ; men do not rightly judge 
the attitude of the college. From its foundation Harvard has 
stood for the cultivation of the individual, and those who do 
not think say this is selfishness. It is its opposite. Harvard 
individualism means that every man shall develop what is best 
in him, that thus he may fit himself to serve his fellows. 
Toward this ideal the university has struggled for two centuries 
and a half, and in these later years, with the rapid development 
of the elective system, by which each man has fitted his studies 
to his needs, the university has come nearer to it. To one who 



160 HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 

knows Harvard there is something almost ludicrous, were it not 
for the sorrowful thought that the university is so misunder- 
stood, in the cry of Harvard indifference. Because schoolboy 
ideals and codes are fast disappearing, because men will not be 
driven in a body, because a man thinks that above all he should 
seek to make best use of those powers God has given him, 
Harvard is indifferent. If this be indifference, the charge is 
true ; but it is indifference of this sort that has moved the world. 

There is, however, at Harvard, indifference to some things 
that older men prize. Nowhere is there a more democratic com- 
munity. Wealth and lineage unsupported by genuine merit 
lack the power they possess in the world outside : a man counts 
for what he is, be he student or instructor ; and this very state 
of things has done away with the old relationship between the 
two : student and instructor are no longer at war, — they are 
working together toward a common goal. 

Perhaps, too, the world has talked of indifference because the 
Harvard man says little of the things he cares for most. He 
wears neither a " societj^ pin " upon his waistcoat, nor his heart 
upon his sleeve. He is silent about the good deeds that he 
does ; yet week after week he goes to a " Boys' Club " in some 
wretched district of Boston ; or he gathers about him the little 
band that centres round a " Home Library ; " there is a sailors' 
mission where Harvard students may be found Sundays, and a 
"Prospect Union," where men who have toiled all day meet 
at night to study, and Harvard students are their teachers. 
They devote time and strength to these, but they say nothing. 
Silently the rich have given of their abundance to their class- 
mates, who, in the struggle for an education, have had also 
to win their bread. Many a man, almost despairing in the 
struggle, has taken heart at a gift that came he knew not 
whence. " I must do this, at least," the giver says, " but my 
name must not be known." And many a poor man has helped 
his fellow poorer than himself. For these things those who 
know and love Harvard believe in her — for these things that the 
world knows not of. Nor does it see, perhaps because it does 
not care to look, the strong current of honest, clean right-living, 
the search for truth, the endeavor to develop all the powers that 
God has given, these things that are the true spirit of Harvard. 

He who pauses before the entrance gate of the college may 
see above the central portal, wrought in the iron work, the 



RELIGIOUS LIFE. 161 

Cross, and upon the right-hand pillar the seal of the college with 
Veritas inscribed upon the open books. Carved upon the wall 
at his right hand are words written two centuries ago : — 

AFTER GOD HAD CARRIED US SAFE TO NEW ENGLAND 

AND WEE HAD BUILDED OUR HOUSES 

PROVIDED NECESSARIES FOR OUR LIVELI HOOD 

REARD CONVENIENT PLACES FOR GODS WORSHIP 

AND SETLED THE CIVILL GOVERNMENT 

ONE OF THE NEXT THINGS WE LONGED FOR 

AND LOOKED AFTER WAS TO ADVANCE LEARNING 

AND PERPETUATE IT TO POSTERITY 

DREADING TO LEAVE AN ILLITERATE MINISTERY 

TO THE CHURCHES WHEN OUR PRESENT MINISTERS 

SHALL LIE IN THE DUST 

Here the colonists founded their college, and across its shield 
they wrote Veritas. Harvard has been true to her inheritance. 
Still she teaches her sons to seek for truth as she sends them 
forth to a ministry wider far than that of which the fathers 
dreamed, for which they hoped and prayed. 



CHAPEL AT HARVARD. 
By THE RIGHT REV. WILLIAM LAWRENCE, 

BISHOP OF MASSACHUSETTS. 

One cannot consider the movements of the religious life of 
Harvard apart from the history of the development of the uni- 
versity from a college. 

Thirty years ago Harvard was a college. The whole system 
of discipline was adapted to youth and immaturity of character. 
The student was under the eye of the college every hour of the 
day and night ; his courses of study were marked out for him, 
lessons from the textbooks were given from day to day. He 
was under tutelage. In harmony with this system he was re- 
quired to go to daily prayers and to Sunday worship. To be 
sure there was an occasional protest that religion stood on a 
different footing from studies. But the answer was reasonable 
that in the development of the boy, religion had its place with 
study, and why should it not be under the same rules ? 

Thus at an early hour every morning the college bell, under 
the faithful charge of " Old Jones " as he was affectionately 
called, caused several hundred young men to leap from a deep 



162 CHAPEL AT HARVARD. 

sleep into their clothes and make their hurried way along the 
muddy paths and around the puddles of the yard to the chapel. 
The whole college could then be accommodated in the chapel, 
though at that time it had no side galleries. It was popularly 
supposed that Jones was not as faithful at the furnace as he 
was at the bell ; but perhaps the fault was with the furnace. 
With upturned coat-collars, the students watched good old Dr. 
Peabody remove his spectacles to read the Scriptures and then 
replace them to offer prayer ; they then joined heartily in one 
of the familiar hymns and after the benediction broke away for 
breakfast. 

It has become the fashion in these latter days to speak of the 
prayers of early times as worse than useless, and to emphasize 
the irreverence of students compelled to pray. While there 
was irreverence sometimes, and though the Doctor was occa- 
sionally warned by a knocking on the pews if he prayed too 
long, yet the great body of the young men were reverent, and 
many of them entered devoutly into the service. Two things 
at least were impressive and affected the lives of the students, 
— the daily contact with the simple and pure character of Dr. 
Peabody and the hearty singing of the closing hymn. 

With the development of the elective system under President 
Eliot, the larger freedom in discipline and the greater maturity 
of the students, the old religious system gradually became dis- 
cordant with the prevailing note of college life. 

Religious institutions are conservative. It was natural there- 
fore that the proposition of a new method should make its way 
slowly into the confidence of the officers of the college and of 
the community. 

Formerly studies, recitations, and prayers had been consid- 
ered as duties. Under the new regime, elective studies and 
lecture's were lifted to the plane of privileges, — why not 
prayers as well? 

Gradually the responsibility as to the attendance of the stu- 
dents at Sunday worship was removed from the college to the 
parents, and then to the students themselves. The last thing that 
Harvard wanted to do was to weaken the forces of religion in the 
university. The problem was how, under the new conditions, 
religion and spiritual influences could be made more effective. 

The first step was to dignify worship and daily prayer, by 
making them not a matter of compulsion but of privilege. 



CAMBRIDGE THE GAINER. 163 

That they should be so considered by the students, great pains 
were taken to make them more attractive. A fine choir of men 
and boys and a more congregational form of worship were fea- 
tures in the movement. But the great step that the university 
made was in calling to her service some of the strongest men in 
the ministry, who were led to devote a few weeks in each year 
to the spiritual interests of the students. 

Before this plan had been matured Dr. Phillips Brooks had 
been invited to be the chaplain of the university. He declined, 
fortunately ; for the larger and more effective plan, by which he 
with others could place some of their life at the service of the 
college, was now developed. In this he was always a most in- 
terested and sympathetic adviser of the president, whose object 
was to make the Christian religion a dignified, natural, and 
effective force in the new life of the university. The influence 
which he brought to bear in favor of the new plan was most 
potent in causing its adoption. 

An adaptation of the English cathedral system of canons 
in residence was devised. Six preachers to the university were 
appointed, one of them, Professor P. G. Peabody, being a per- 
manent teacher. During the thirty-six weeks of term-time each 
preacher became responsible for the services and prayers for 
six weeks. 

The practical result is this. At a quarter before nine every 
morning a body of students who wish to open the day with 
common prayer in company with their fellows meet in Apple- 
ton Chapel, and the preacher in residence leads them in prayer. 
He also conducts the Sunday evening services, when the con- 
gregation fills the chapel, as is also the case at the Thurs- 
day afternoon vesper services. Every morning in the term 
a preacher is at Wads worth House to receive and help with 
counsel the many students who call. 

The students have responded to the responsibility laid upon 
them, and the religious and charitable societies of the college 
have taken on new life. 

The city of Cambridge has been a gainer, for from this new 
movement has sprung the Prospect Union, and the ministers in 
Cambridge feel a satisfaction in preaching to young men in the 
parish churches who come to church on Sunday mornings not 
under the compulsion of a collegiate discipline but from a de- 
sire on their own part to worship. 



PHYSICAL TRAINING. 

By DUDLEY A. SARGENT, M. D., 

DIRECTOR OF THE HEMENWA1' GYMNASIUM. 

In reviewing the material growth and prosperity of a city it 
is well to consider some of the factors that have contributed to 
its renown in the best sense. Although an aggregation of houses 
and buildings inhabited by a few thousand people may consti- 
tute a city, and it maybe rated in prosperity in proportion to its 
increase in buildings and population, and its growth in wealth 
and industries — may we not look for higher evidences of its 
comparative rank in its development of principles and men ? 

Now that our cities are rapidly becoming like so many fur- 
naces where human lives are consumed like coal to meet the 
demands of our civilization, the question of how to conserve 
life and add to its capacity for health and enjoyment is rap- 
idly growing in importance. Perhaps no community has taken 
hold of this subject with a more comprehensive grasp than the 
one in which we live. Cambridge may be said to be the very 
centre of growth in municipal health and individual hygiene in 
America. 1 

The effects of a sedentary life, and the close confinement 
necessarily accompanying the intellectual efforts of the students, 
must have drawn the attention of the college authorities to the 
matter of health preservation at an early period in its history, 
although we have no record of any practical effort in this direc- 
tion until the first quarter of the present century. It is inter- 
esting to observe that whatever efforts are made by the college 
towards the maintenance of health must necessarily be supple- 
mented by the city. The college can teach the elements of 
hygiene and correct methods of living, and the individual may 
apply these precepts to his own life, but so long as the physical 

1 See chapter on Health in Cambridge, by H. P. Walcott, M. D. — Ed- 
itor. 



DR. FOLLEN. 165 

man is ultimately the product of the air he breathes, the food 
he eats, and the water he drinks, his immediate environments 
must play an important part in his health and development. 

In this respect, a man who undertakes to build himself up 
mentally or physically becomes for the time being- simply an 
agent of distribution. That is, by bringing his mental faculties 
into increased activity he can send nutriment to his brain, or by 
using his muscles vigorously he can send nutriment to different 
parts of his body, in this way building up and elaborating mate- 
rial substances into the highest kind of organic faculty. 

But the nature of these material substances and the condi- 
tion in which they are brought to him are often beyond his 
individual control. Thus the condition of the soil, the source 
and nature of the food and drinking water, the presence of 
stagnant pools and nuisances in the neighborhood, the over- 
growth of trees, the prevalence of dust, the state of the sewer- 
age and of the streets, drains, and rivers, are all matters which 
affect individual health, but unfortunately are matters over 
which the individual oftentimes can have but little influence. 

Here it is that men acting collectively or as a municipal- 
ity may effect changes and improvements for the common 
good. As the individual suffers or prospers in consequence of 
his environment, so the city prospers or deteriorates as it be- 
comes attractive or otherwise to the individual as a place of 
residence or a place of business. Thus it might be maintained 
that in health matters, as they affect individuals, institutions, or 
the public, the interest of the college and the city are reciprocal 
if not identical. Let us note, therefore, the progress which the 
college and the city have made in these matters during the past 
century. In this review I shall confine myself principally to 
the health agencies brought into popular service through what 
is ordinarily termed physical training. 

Harvard's first attempt to afford her students physical exer- 
cise in addition to that which they obtained in performing the 
ordinary duties of life seems to have been about 1826. In this 
year Dr. Follen came to Cambridge and established a gymna- 
sium at Harvard College, in one of the unoccupied Commons 
halls, which was fitted up with various gymnastic appliances. 
Other fixtures were erected on the Delta, where Memorial Hall 
now stands, but concerning the working of these gymnasiums 
we have, unfortunately, very little knowledge. 



166 PHYSICAL TRAINING. 

Dr. John C. Warren, who for forty years was professor of 
anatomy and surgery in the Harvard Medical School, and who 
at that time lectured to the students at Cambridge on the pres- 
ervation of health, states that small gymnasiums were estab- 
lished, soon after the opening at Harvard, at most of the schools, 
academies, and colleges, male and female, in the vicinity. Some 
years later, Dr. Warren writes : " The establishment of gymna- 
sia throughout the country promised at one period the open- 
ing of a new era in physical education. The exercises were 
pursued with ardor so long as the novelty lasted, but owing 
to not understanding their importance, or some defect in the 
institution which adopted them, the} 7 have gradually been neg- 
lected and forgotten, at least in our own vicinity. The benefits 
which resulted from these institutions, within my personal know- 
ledge and experience, far transcended the most sanguine ex- 
pectations. The diversions of the gymnasium should consti- 
tute a regular part of the duties of all colleges and seminaries of 
learning." 

The only authentic account of the work done at the Harvard 
gymnasium in 1826, that I have been able to find, is that con- 
tained in Dr. Edward Jarvis's work on " Physiology and the 
Laws of Health," published thirty years ago. In this treatise 
he says : " The students were invited to go to the playgrounds at 
twelve, and engage in gymnastic exercises till one o'clock. These 
were very active, and some of them violent for men and boys 
of their strength, so that when they left the field for dinner 
they were generally fatigued, and some were almost exhausted. 
Those who wei-e most fatigued ate their dinner with less relish, 
and felt neither refreshed nor comfortable afterwards. Their 
stomachs could not digest the meal with the usual ease, and 
consequently they were heavy and indisposed for study in the 
afternoon." 

Again Dr. Jarvis writes : " It was supposed several years 
ago, during the period beginning 1826, that the gymnasium 
would furnish opportunities and inducements to exercise for all 
such as were not required by their business or their condition in 
life to labor. In these establishments means were provided for 
using all the limbs and muscles. There were ropes to climb, 
parallel bars to walk upon with the hands, and wooden horses 
to mount upon and leap over. There were means for climbing, 
swinging upon the arms, leaping, vaulting, and for performing 



EARLY GAMES. 167 

some of the feats of the rope dancer, and some of the labors of 
the sailor. These exercises were active and laborious. Those 
who engaged in them made, or endeavored to make, the exer- 
tions which only strong men could make. But they were soon 
fatigued, and left the gymnasium ; or, if they persevered, were 
nearly exhausted. The error was not adapting the mode to, 
and measuring the amount of exertion by, the strength of those 
who needed it. 

" The students of Cambridge in 1826 complained that they 
were fatigued and sometimes overcome, rather than invigorated, 
at the gymnasium, and were unfit for study for some hours 
afterward. The final result of this attempt to introduce this 
system of exercises into our colleges, schools, and cities was a 
general failure." 

Colonel Higginson speaks of this gymnasium on the Delta 
as being in existence in 1830, but thinks there was nothing left 
of it by 1840, and he is sure that when he graduated in 1841 
there was nothing like a gymnasium existing in Cambridge. 

In 1843 or 1844, a private gymnasium was established back 
of Wyeth's store on Brattle Street, in an old building which 
formerly stood where Lyceum Hall now is, originally used as a 
court-house. 1 This private gymnasium was conducted by a man 
named T. Belcher Kay, who devoted most of his attention to 
boxing. Parkman, the historian, and many of the men in col- 
lege at that time, were pupils of Kay, though the gymnasium 
had no official connection with the university. 

During this period considerable interest was awakened in 
recreative games, football, baseball, and cricket then beino- 
played. College boat-clubs were formed in 1845, and the first 
boat-house was built in 1846. From this year on, boatino- was 
freely engaged in by the students, partly for exercise, but prin- 
cipally for pleasure. Although boat races began as early as 
1845, there were no contests with Yale and other colleges until 
after 1850. During the next decade the seed sown by Harvard 
was beginning to bear fruit in other institutions. Match ball 
games and boat races were occasionally arranged, and a re- 
newed interest in gymnastics was awakening. In I860, the old 

1 It may be interesting to note that this building forms part of the rear 
of the Whitney building on Palmer Street, where forty years later (in 1883) 
the writer opened a gymnasium for the students of the Harvard Annex, as 
it was then termed. 



168 PHYSICAL TRAINING. 

gymnasium opposite Memorial Hall, now used by the engineer- 
ing department, was erected. 

Immediately after the establishment of the gymnasium at 
Harvard in 1860, gymnasiums were built at Amherst, Dart- 
mouth, Princeton, Yale, Wesleyan, and several other colleges. 
In the early sixties, the present game of baseball was first 
played at Harvard, and the Cambridge city government granted 
a petition for the use of the Common near the Washington 
Elm as a practice ground for the college students. This was 
used until the spring of 1864, after which the Delta was used 
for baseball games. 

In the next decade, beginning 1870, several more college 
gymnasiums were built, including the Hemenway Gymnasium 
at Harvard University. The Harvard Athletic Association was 
established in 1874, and the Rugby football game, which seems 
to have such a hold upon the American public, was introduced 
at Harvard at about this time. 

With the completion of the Hemenway Gymnasium, and its 
equipment with a new system of apparatus, a new era was 
introduced in gymnasium construction and in gymnasium 
methods. Some of the features which made the Hemenway 
Gymnasium unique at the time of its opening may be briefly 
stated : It was the largest gymnasium in point of floor-room, 
air space, and the number of its dressing-rooms, lockers, and 
pieces of apparatus then in the country. The recent addition 
given to the university by Mr. Hemenway has placed the Har- 
vard Gymnasium again at the head of the list in all of these 
particulars. The Hemenway was the first gymnasium in the 
country to have special rooms devoted to rowing, baseball, 
fencing, sparring, trophies, records, photographing, examina- 
tions, etc. 

In the old-style gymnasium it was necessary for the man to 
adapt himself to the apparatus ; in the new-style gymnasium, 
the apparatus is adapted to the man. At first, the apparatus 
was heavy and cumbersome, and the man was obliged to lift his 
own weight. In his efforts to do so he was frequently over- 
worked and exhausted, as previously stated by Dr. Jarvis. Now 
most of the apparatus is attached to a weight that he can lift, 
and this is easily adjusted to the strength of the strong and the 
weakness of the weak. Formerly, in using the gymnasium, a 
young man was forced to enter into competition with others in 



NEW APPARATUS. 169 

the performance of difficult feats ; now he can avoid the heavy 
apparatus if he desires to, and enter into competition with him- 
self ; that is, with his owu condition from time to time, as de- 
termined by physical examinations. The old gymnasium was 
necessarily restricted to the few on account of the limited nature 
of its equipment ; the modern system of apparatus and develop- 
ing appliances has opened up the possibilities of the gymnasium 
to everybody. Formerly, any kind of material, put together in 
any way, was thought good enough to " make things for boys to 
play with;" now, the best material on the market is selected 
for gymnastic and athletic goods, and the best mechanical skill 
in the country is engaged in the construction of athletic appli- 
ances. When the history of the rise and spread of the interest 
in physical exercise is written, it will be surprising to many to 
know how much of this interest may be attributed to the genius 
of the inventor, and the skill of the artificer and mechanic. 

The introduction of the new apparatus at Harvard made also 
a new era in the method or system employed. Whereas in 
many institutions attendance upon gymnasium exercises is re- 
quired by classes, at Harvard the attendance is voluntary, and 
the system adopted is one designed to meet the special wants of 
each individual. Realizing the great diversity in age, size, and 
strength, as well as in health, of the students who attend the 
university, the director makes no attempt to group them into 
classes which pursue the same course of exercises. 

Upon entering the university, each student is entitled to a 
physical examination by the director, in which his bodily pro- 
portions are measured, his strength tested, his heart and lungs 
examined, and information solicited concerning his health and 
inherited tendencies. From the data thus procured a special 
order of appropriate exercises is made out for each student, 
with specifications of the movements and apparatus which he 
may best use. These exercises are mai'ked in outline on cards 
without charge, or in handbooks accompanied by charts at a 
small expense. After working on this prescription for three 
or six months, the student is entitled to another examination, 
by which the results of the work are ascertained, and the di- 
rector enabled to make a further prescription. Students hold- 
ing scholarships are expected to be examined twice a year, and 
those desiring to enter athletic contests are required to be ex- 
amined by the director, and obtain his permission so to do. In 



170 PHYSICAL TRAINING. 

addition to the individual prescriptions, there are classes in 
free movements and light gymnastics, designed to afford an 
opportunity for general development to all students of the uni- 
versity who are not members of the athletic teams, or who are 
not in need of specially prescribed exercises. All students de- 
siring to enter as competitors in athletic contests are required 
to give evidence of their ability by making a series of strength 
tests, in addition to the regular physical examinations. Under 
this regime the attendance at the gymnasium has grown from 
about 500 in 1880 to 2000 and over in 1896. 

Perhaps the most radical difference between the old and new 
Harvard may be illustrated by the position the authorities have 
taken since 1882 in regard to athletic sports. In the later six- 
ties, and all through the seventies, the athletic zeal and energies 
of the students were concentrated upon the production of a 
successful baseball nine and a winning boat crew. Given other 
institutions fired with the same ambition and equally persist- 
ent, it was only a question of time when the efforts in this 
direction would be carried to excess. The Harvard faculty 
concluded that its students had reached this stage in 1882, and 
appointed a committee to regulate and control athletic sports in 
the university. The work and policy of this committee is too 
familiar to the Cambridge public to call for any comment here. 
In the mean time, another phase of the athletic problem has 
presented itself. While some institutions seem much con- 
cerned as to what their students are doing for athletics, the 
authorities of Harvard University are more desirous of know- 
ing what athletics are doing for their students. In other words, 
the growing disparity between the number of athletic teams and 
the increasing number of students is becoming more marked 
every year, and efforts are being made to extend the athletic 
facilities of the university so that larger numbers of students 
can enjoy the advantages of practicing out-door exercises. 

Through the munificence of Mr. Augustus Hemenway, Colo- 
nel H. L. Higginson, Mr. G. W. Weld, and a few other grad- 
uates, the general plant for exercise, physical training, and 
athletic sports has been greatly augmented within the past few 
years. It is doubtful if any institution in the world can sur- 
pass the facilities of Harvard in this department of education. 
But how has Cambridge been affected by this revival of inter- 
est in physical training? some of my readers may ask. The 



THE INTEREST SPREADS. 171 

Y. M. C. A. gymnasium at Central Square, and the Cambridge- 
port gymnasium on Prospect Street were among the first to adopt 
the Harvard apparatus, which has also recently been introduced 
into the Newtowne Club gymnasium at North Cambridge. 

Although this new movement in gymnasium construction and 
equipment got its first footing in Cambridge, no manufacturer 
in the city had faith enough in the future growth and demands 
for gymnasium supplies to embark in it as a business enterprise, 
though there are several companies in different parts of the 
United States making this new style of apparatus. We shall 
not attempt to describe the extent to which this new move- 
ment in physical education has spread, the number of persons 
reached, nor the amount of money expended in land, buildings, 
and equipment. We know that gymnasiums and athletic clubs 
have arisen by the hundreds all over the country. Some of the 
most expensive of the gymnasiums have cost over two hundred 
thousand dollars, and one of the athletic associations in New 
York has property valued at little less than a million dollars. 
The memberships of the gymnasiums range from fifty to three 
thousand each, and the number of individuals reached in the 
clubs and schools combined must aggregate several hundred 
thousand. 

Some idea of the growth of interest in physical development 
in the United States, and the special directions it is taking may 
be inferred from the following lists of gymnasiums that have 
been built, reconstructed, or equipped, to the writer's know- 
ledge, since the World's Fair in 1893. 

Y. M. C. A. Gymnasiums 48 

Private School Gymnasiums 37 

College Gymnasiums 32 

Athletic Club Gymnasiums 22 

Normal School Gymnasiums 17 

Public School Gymnasiums 7 

Private Gymnasiums 15 

Church Gymnasiums 16 

Armory Gymnasiums 4 

Foreign, Turnverein, Park, Sanitary, and Police Gymnasiums 7 

Total 205 

The past fifteen years may fairly be said to represent the era 
of gymnasium construction, and the next few years will witness 
a marked improvement in gymnasium infractions. 



172 PHYSICAL TRAINING. 

It is natural that individuals desiring to acquaint themselves 
more fully with the Harvard methods of physical training- 
should be attracted to Cambridge as the centre from which the 
new movement has largely radiated. Harvard began to feel 
the demand for instructors in this branch of education soon 
after the completion of the Hemenway Gymnasium. Since 
1887 there has been a considerable number of teachers from 
all parts of the country who have repaired to Cambridge during 
the summer months to study and practice the methods of phy- 
sical training taught at the Harvard Summer School. In this 
department alone we have had since the school opened 584 
different pupils, 206 of whom were men, and 378 women. Of 
these, 225 have come from New England, 192 from the Middle 
Eastern States, 111 from the Middle or Central States, 19 from 
the extreme Western States and Pacific slope, and 13 from 
England and the Provinces. In all, 43 different States and 
countries have been represented. Last summer the school had 
90 pupils and 32 instructors. These pupils are for the most 
part engaged in teaching gymnastics or athletics in schools, 
colleges, universities, athletic clubs, Christian associations, sani- 
tariums, hospitals, and asylums all over the country. 

Many of these teachers who come to Cambridge during the 
college vacation time are accompanied by friends and relatives, 
who make the city their temporary camping ground, from which 
they make daily pilgrimages to the places of historical interest 
in this locality and the immediate vicinity. In addition to the 
gymnasium teachers who frequent our Summer School, we have 
army officers, school superintendents and principals, instructors 
and college professors in other departments, and many persons 
who take the course for their personal improvement. Thus it 
will be seen that Cambridge as the seat of the great university 
is not only building up hardy and vigorous bodies for its reg- 
ular students, but through its courses for teachers is helping to 
advance the cause of physical education throughout the land. 

The athletic organizations of the university have undoubtedly 
exerted a great influence over the youth of Cambridge. The 
regularity of living while in training for the great games and 
contests, the daily regime as to diet, sleep, bathing, etc., and 
the voluntary discipline under which the students place them- 
selves in order to reach the coveted goal, are all great moral 
lessons in their way, and lessons which the boy often accepts 



A GENEROUS OFFER. 173 

from his hero in the field rather than from his Sunday-school 
teacher. The stimulus afforded by the athletic life of the stu- 
dents is felt by all classes of Cambridge people, from the boy 
who crawls under the fence to see a game to the merchant 
prince who fills a palace car with his friends, and takes them a 
hundred miles to see a similar exhibition. Some of the best 
amateur and professional athletes of the country in various 
branches of sport have been natives or residents of Cambridge, 
and few will question the source of their aspirations. 

In this connection it has often occurred to the writer that the 
city might avail itself to a greater extent of many of the advan- 
tages that the university extends to it. In June, 1890, the col- 
lege authorities addressed the following communication to the 
City Council of Cambridge : — 

" The President and Fellows of Harvard College hereby offer to the 
City of Cambridge for the use and enjoyment of the public, in common 
with the President and Fellows, all their grounds lying northerly from 
Harvard Street and easterly from North Avenue, for twelve weeks 
from the Monday following the last Wednesday in June, in each and 
every year, until further notice, provided that the city restore the 
grounds to the university at the expiration of the twelve weeks in the 
same condition, as nearly as may be, in which it received them." 

This offer includes the use of the running track and baseball 
ground on Holmes Field, and some thirty or more tennis courts 
on Jarvis Field, and in a city where over a hundred teachers 
are being trained every year as instructors of gymnastics and 
athletics, and as directors of the physical training in the public 
schools of other cities, the acceptance of such an offer might 
prove of great utility. 

The city need not hesitate on grounds of economy, as the 
amount of instruction necessary could be obtained for a small 
sum compared to what other cities pay, and the normal pupils 
who are brought to Cambridge, when preparing for the work, 
are desirous of opportunities to teach as a matter of experi- 
ence. Similar service will be rendered as the city supplies itself 
with public parks and open-air playgrounds and gymnasiums 
like those in Boston v in accordance with the plans of the present 
Park Commission. With these additions to its fine natural 
facilities, Cambridge will be unsurpassed as a place of residence, 
not only for the rich and well-to-do, but also for the poor. 



RADCLIFFE COLLEGE. 

By ARTHUR GILMAN, 

REGENT OF RADCLIFFE COLLEGE. 

In the year 1643, the Rev. Thomas Weld, pastor of the church 
in Roxbury, received from " Lady Ann Moulson, of London, 
widow," the sum of one hundred pounds current English 
money, for Harvard College in New England. 1 The purpose 
which Lady Moulson had in making this gift is expressed in 
the formal receipt which with great business sagacity she ex- 
acted of Mr. Weld. That document has been preserved, and 
two consequences have followed. Lady Moulson's intention in 
contributing the money "out of Christian desire to advance 
good learning," was to bestow the income upon such poor 
" scholler " as the college might think best, though it was 
stipulated that in case any kinsman of hers were admitted to 
the college, the income should be his until he had attained his 
master's degree, even though it might at the time be awarded 
to. another. 

This fund, as Mr. Andrew McFarland Davis, who discovered 
it anew a few years ago, expresses it, established the "first 
scholarship in Harvard," and " unquestionably the oldest and 
most interesting foundation of the kind in this country." It is 
a scholarship in a college for men established by a woman. Sir 
Thomas Moulson (doubtless the husband of Lady Ann) was 
lord mayor of London in 1634, and was knighted that year. 
He was a man of generous deeds, and founded a " faire school " 
in Cheshire, the town in which he was born, " for the govern- 
ment, education, and instruction of youth in grammar and vir- 
tue." The fact that he shared the general interest that adven- 
tures in America had roused in England at that time, made it 
natural that the friends of Harvard College should turn to his 
widow when they needed money. Thus it was that the first 
1 See A History of Harvard University, by Benjamin Peirce, p. 12. 



DR. STEARNS'S SUGGESTION. 175 

scholarship was established in the college. It lapsed for many 
a long year, but it has at last been reestablished through the 
instrumentality of Mr. Davis. 

Mr. Davis published his researches not far from the time that 
those interested in the education of women by the professors of 
Harvard College were seeking a name for their institution, and 
it was decided that the maiden name of the founder of the first 
scholarship in the parent institution was by far the most appro- 
priate for a college which was to give collegiate instruction to 
her sex. The investigations of Mr. Davis had established, as 
well as it coidd be established under the circumstances, that 
Radcliffe was the name which the bride of Mr. Moulson had 
borne before her marriage, and therefore it was chosen for the 
new college. It was in 1894 that the legislature of Massachu- 
setts passed an act establishing Radcliffe College, giving it wide 
powers in connection with Harvard College, the president and 
fellows of which were made responsible for the grade of its 
instruction and for the character of its degrees. At last the 
sarcasm of Swift, uttered more than a century before, had no 
application to Cambridge. " My Master," said he, " thought it 
monstrous in us to give the Females a different kind of Educa- 
tion from the Males." Harvard College no longer educated 
one half of the human being, but gave to both halves instruc- 
tion of the same high grade and placed its seal upon degrees of 
the same value. 

The idea of a college for women in Cambridge, which should 
share the advantages of the University, had been presented nearly 
thirty years before, by the Rev. Dr. William A. Stearns, for 
more than twenty years pastor of the Prospect Street Church. 
Dr. Stearns was a prominent member of the School Board, and 
in the Report for 1849 he left the following record of his far- 
seeing wisdom : — 

" When we take into consideration that our noble University, 
with its professional and scientific schools, towers in the midst 
of us, and that the High School now forms a connecting link be- 
tween this institution and the lower schools, we cannot but look 
with admiration upon the educational advantages of Cambridge. 

" If private munificence would endow one additional school, 
in which our daughters could obtain advantages for improve- 
ment approximating those which our sons enjoy in the Univer- 
sity, the opportunities for education would be unquestionably 



176 RADCLIFFE COLLEGE. 

superior in Cambridge to what can be found in any other spot 
on the globe." 1 

Radcliffe College did not, however, start up at a moment by 
the fiat of the legislature of the State. Its origin dates back 
some sixteen or more years. There had been long and anxious 
considerations of the method by which such a momentous result 
might be accomplished. Many people had before that date, 
even, been asking (" demanding " might be a better word) that 
girls should of right be admitted to equal privileges in the 
venerable university ; but, though they did not know it, they 
demanded a revolution, and revolutions are more frequent in 
political affairs than in affairs educational. Sturdy " demands " 
fell unheeded at the closed doors of the university. It was left 
for milder methods to win success. 

Parental solicitude showed the way. 2 A mother and a father 
were discussing the education of a daughter for whom it seemed 
to them that the ordinary curriculum of the schools for girls did 
not provide enough advanced woi*k. The study of their par- 
ticular problem led them to believe that they would accomplish 
what they wanted for their own child by making provision for 
the children of others. Thus it was that they formed a plan for 
giving parallel courses of instruction outside of Plarvard College 
by the professors, which would make it possible for a woman to 
take all the work required for the bachelor's degree, if not to 
go further in collegiate work. This plan solved for the time 
the difficulties that had been foreseen by those who had wished 
for the greatest advantages for women in connection with Har- 
vard College. The objections that had been raised, on the one 
hand, by those who wished the women to be admitted to the 
classes of men, or on the other, by those who wished that they 
might be taught in quite separate classes, were not valid against 
it. Yet women were to get the real Harvard education. 

It was easier to make a plan, however, than it was to foresee 
how it would be received by the professors and by the corpora- 
tion of the college. Doubts in the minds of the originators 
made them hesitate, and during the weeks that followed, which 
extended themselves into months, they discussed many ways of 
caring for the women who might be brought to Cambridge. 

1 The attention of the writer was called to this utterance by the present 
Superintendent of Schools, Mr. Francis Cogswell. 

2 See Cambridge Sketches by Cambridge Authors, Cambridge, 1896, p. 183. 



A NOTABLE DWELLING. Ill 

Houses were looked at, and finally one was chosen as the best 
adapted to the uses of the proposed institution. It was on the 
side of the Common, almost under the " Washington Elm," not 
far from the home of Longfellow and opposite the birthplace of 
Holmes, a dwelling that Mr. Longfellow had been a frequent 
visitor in, and through the halls of which Dr. Holmes, as it was 
afterwards learned, had in his younger life often walked, if he 
had not indeed trodden more lively measures there. This house 
was of quiet dignity, and had for a long time been the home 
of the family of Judge Fay, wherefore it has since been known 
as Fay House. Behind it were inclosures in which the vener- 
able Professor Sophocles cared for a collection of hens, for each 
egg of which he seemed to have a personal interest. Edward 
Everett had once lived in the building, and Professor McKean 
had his residence in it during his professorship from 1810 to 
1818. It was not known generally then that in the front room 
in the second story on the north side of the front hall the Rev- 
erend Samuel Gilman, a relative of Judge Fay, had written the 
words of " Fair Harvard," to be used on the occasion of the two 
hundredth anniversary of Harvard College, — words that have 
been sung at every Commencement since that day. However, 
this is by the way. The house was occupied at the time, and 
there seemed no probability that it could ever be obtained for 
such a purpose as the anxious schemers had in mind. Nothing- 
could be said, of course, of such a desire. 

The simple plan that was destined to succeed was brought to 
the attention of the president of Harvard College by means of 
the following letter : — 

5 Phillips Place, 
Cambridge, December 23. 1878. 

Dear Sir : — I am engaged in perfecting a plan which shall afford 
to women opportunities for carrying their studies systematically for- 
ward further than it is possihle for them now to do in this country 
except possibly at Smith College. 

My plan obliges me to obtain the services of certain of the professors, 
and I address you before approaching them in order to assure myself 
that I am correct in supposing that their relations to the university 
are such as to permit of their giving instruction to those who are not 
connected with it. 

I propose to bring here such women as are able to pass an examina- 
tion not less rigid than that now established for the admission of young 



178 RADCLIFFE COLLEGE. 

men, and to offer them a course of instruction which shall be a counter- 
part of that pursued by the men. 

It is probable that a very small number of women will be found at 
first, but it will grow. 

I am aware that some of the professors now give instruction to pri- 
vate pupils and teach elsewhere. If my plan prove a success it will 
relieve them from such irregular labor and give them a regular addi- 
tion to their incomes. 

It is, however, needless that I enlarge, or trouble you at any greater 
length. 

I desire only to be assured that if I make approaches to any of the 

Faculty I shall be asking them for services that they can render or 

not, without in any way interfering with their first obligations to the 

university. 

I am very truly yours, 

Arthur Gilmax. 
President Eliot. 

The writer of the letter had a few weeks previously explained 
the plan to a member of the faculty, Professor James B. Green- 
ough, because he was a neighbor, and also because lie was one 
of three professors who had just at that time given their con- 
sent to an application from a young woman for instruction of 
the college grade. The favorable reception of the scheme by 
Professor Greenough was immediate and enthusiastic, and the 
permission of President Eliot was also given at once. The 
president called at my home the morning after the date of the 
letter, and expressed willingness that the experiment should 
be tried, for all felt that it was an experiment to graft the edu- 
cation of women upon the stock of a university nearly two cen- 
turies and a half of age. Mr. Eliot, like many others, thought 
it well worth effort. He was told that it was to be tried by a 
few ladies who were quite unorganized, so that if failure should 
be the result, Harvard would not be responsible, though if 
success should crown the effort, Harvard should have the glory. 
Seven ladies constituted the " committee," as it was sometimes 
called, though, as it was not a committee in the strict sense of 
the word, some difficulty was found in designating the body. 
Two of the ladies were unmarried, and two who had been chosen 
by natural selection were married. It was determined to choose 
three more married ladies and thus complete the number of 
seven. They were, in the order of coming into the scheme, 
Mrs. Gilinan, Mrs. Greenough, Miss Longfellow, Miss Hors- 
ford, Mrs. Cooke, Mrs. Agassiz, and Mrs. Gurney. 



THE FIRST STEPS. 179 

This bare statement of the first steps in the organization 
gives no intimation of the long consideration that had been 
devoted to the subject by Mr. and Mrs. Gilman, of the hesita- 
tion with which the presentation of the matter to Professor 
Greenough had been made, nor of the anxiety which they had 
had lest he might not favor it. After the matter had been 
approved by one professor, it was laid before many others, and 
they made no delay in giving their allegiance to it. This was 
in 1878. Finally, in February, 1879, on Washington's Birth- 
day, the first announcement was made, by a circular headed 
"Private Collegiate Instruction for Women." This was signed 
by the seven ladies, and all correspondence was directed to be 
sent to the secretary. The statements in the circular were, of 
necessity, vague, but in many quarters it was at once assumed 
that Harvard College had opened its doors to women, and 
letters came from different parts of the country based upon 
this assumption. The substance of the circular had been tele- 
graphed to the newspapers through the usual agencies, and 
special articles had been printed in the editorial columns of the 
"Boston Advertiser," and in daily and weekly papers in New 
York. The circular was worded as follows : — 

PRIVATE COLLEGIATE INSTRUCTION FOR WOMEN. 

The ladies whose names are appended below are authorized to say 
that a number of Professors and other Instructors in Harvard College 
have consented to give private tuition to properly qualified young 
women who desire to pursue advanced studies in Cambridge. Other 
Professors whose occupations prevent them from giving such tuition 
are willing to assist young women by advice and by lectures. No 
instruction will be provided of a lower grade than that given in Har- 
vard College. 

The expense of instruction in as many branches as a student can 
profitably pursue at once will depend upon the numbers in the several 
courses, but it will probably not exceed four hundred dollars a year, 
and may be as low as two hundred and fifty. It is hoped, however, 
that endowments may hereafter be procured which will materially 
reduce this expense. 

Pupils who show upon examination that they have satisfactorily 
pursued any courses of study under this scheme will receive certificates 
to that effect, signed by their Instructors. It is hoped, nevertheless, 
that the greater number will pursue a four years' course of study, in 
which case the certificates for the different branches of study will be 



180 RADCLIFFE COLLEGE. 

merged in one, which will be signed by all the Instructors and will 
certify to tbe whole course. 

The ladies will see that the students secure suitable lodgings, and 
will assist them with advice and other friendly offices. 

Information as to the qualifications required, with the names of the 
Instructors in any branch, may be obtained upon application to any 
one of the ladies, or to their Secretary, Mr. Arthur Gilman, 5 Phil- 
lips Place. 

Mrs. Louis Agassiz . Quincy Street. 

Mrs. E. W. Gurney Fayerweather Street. 

Mrs. J. P. Cooke Quincy Street. 

Mrs. J. B. Greenough .... Appian Way. 

Mrs. Arthur Gilman .... Phillips Place. 

Miss Alice M. Longfellow . . . Brattle Street. 

Miss Lilian Horsford .... Craigie Street. 

Cambridge, Mass., February 22, 1879. 

Other circulars followed, and in September the examinations 
for admission were held in a building numbered six on Appian 
Way, the family in which had with great generosity rented 
rooms for the purpose. The papers submitted to the candidates 
were the same that Harvard College used at the same hours for 
its young men, and thus the same standards were set for both 
sexes. The work in the lecture-room began at once, and it has 
continued from that time to this. Twenty-seven women began 
the work of the first year, but two were obliged to give it up 
before the year closed, so that in reality the classes counted 
but twenty-five. That number has increased until now 354 are 
enrolled on the lists of Radcliffe College. 

Every year the writer of these lines has made a report to the 
corporation. In the report for the fourth year the following 
words were used : — 

" Too great stress can hardly be laid upon the value of the highest 
education for women in a land where the majority of the teachers in 
all the schools from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from Maine to 
Texas are women. In our own State, eighty-seven per cent, of the 
teachers (according to the latest report of the Secretary of the Board 
of Education) are women. ... It does not take a very careful study 
of the colleges of New England, less than a score, to show that the 
ratio between the number which in a direct way give assistance to 
those women who aim to qualify themselves for high educational posi- 
tions and those which do not, is quite the reverse of that existing be- 
between the number of women teachers and the grand total occupying 



INTELLECTUAL INDIFFERENTISM ABSENT. 181 

places in the profession. In this fact is found one of the reasons for 
the low rate of pay with which women generally are obliged to satisfy 
themselves. As the opportunities for the higher education within the 
reach of women increase, the number of them able to compete success- 
fully for important and remunerative positions will be enlarged." 

In the same report the following among other reasons for 
the writer's interest in the work that was under discussion was 
given : — 

" Women seeking opportunities for the higher education naturally 
prefer to find them at an institution which is allied at least with one 
established and carried on for men, because they think that there they 
will be in the line of progress. They feel that on the perfecting of 
methods and the best application of educational forces the entire body 
of instructors in such an institution, as well as in all others like it, 
is united. Present them a course of instruction different from that 
offered to men, and they do not eye it askance because they think it 
not so good, but because it is probably just out of the line upon which 
progress and improvement are to be expected. This is one of the 
reasons why thoughtful women have less confidence in courses of in- 
struction specially prepared for them than they have in that one upon 
which the wisdom of men has for generations been working, and is 
still working." 

It is not, therefore, because the present opportunities and 
courses of study of Harvard College are thought the best that 
can be devised for women, that women come in increasing 
numbers to share them, but because in their estimation they 
represent the highest stage of present educational progress in 
our land. The intellectual character of the women who came 
in the early days differed little from that of those who have 
followed them. It happens that we have on record the views 
of a number of the professors on this important subject. Pro- 
fessor John Williams White (Greek) wrote, " I have met uni- 
formly great earnestness, persistent industry, and ability of 
high order. It is an inspiration to teach girls who are so 
bright and so willing." Professor Louis Dyer (Greek), now 
of Oxford, England, said : " I have been most struck this year 
in my philosophical course — undertaken in the absence of Pro- 
fessor Goodwin — by the entire absence of intellectual indiffer- 
entism on the part of the young ladies. Their questions have 
been most intelligent, and, where the first answer did not satisfy 
them, persistent, — an encouraging sign that they are unwilling 



182 RADCLIFFE COLLEGE. 

to content themselves with words." Professor Byerly (mathe- 
matics) said : " I have found the spirit, industry, and ability 
of the girls admirable : indeed, the average has invariably been 
higher in my classes in the ' Annex ' than in my classes in the 
college, in spite of the fact that the college classes, since they 
are in elective courses in a subject of acknowledged difficulty, 
have been necessarily formed of picked men." Of the classes 
in philosophy, Professor Palmer wrote : " The four classes that 
I have taught there have in each case shown a scholarship 
somewhat higher than the parallel class in college. . . . The 
girls being keener questioners, I have usually found myself 
obliged to treat my subject more fundamentally with them than 
when I have discussed it with my college classes." Other pro- 
fessors of those early days wrote in equally strong terms with 
regard to the students, and one of the students said of the 
advantages of the Annex, " I have become convinced, in my 
own mind at least, that there is no institution for women in our 
country which affords so finished and so satisfactory an educa- 
tion as is offered in Cambridge. In the first place, the town, 
pervaded with an atmosphere of study and culture, and rich in 
its associations, seems to me an important factor in a liberal 
education, as well as the home and social life which the students 
enjoy there, a life which is impossible in connection with a dor- 
mitory system." Thus the teachers appreciated the students, 
and the students appreciated highly the advantages that were 
offered them. 

In this, the first stage of the work, the seven ladies and their 
secretary cared for the business affairs of the enterprise, while 
a body of the professors which had Professor Greenough as 
chairman looked after the courses of study, and recommended 
the candidates for the certificates. Degrees were not given to 
those who had accomplished the work for which degrees were 
awarded in Harvard College, but certificates, which stated the 
facts. It may be said by way of anticipation, that these certifi- 
cates have been exchanged for diplomas since Radcliffe College 
w r as created by the legislature. The secretary w r as the only 
officer on the ground at that time. He carried out the votes of 
the " Advisory Board " of professors and of the lady-managers, 
besides attending to all the business. To him all applications 
were addressed, and he wrote all the letters. 

As the numbers increased, the quarters at first engaged 



ROOMS ON APPIAN WAY. 183 

at No. 6 Appian Way proved too small, and other rooms 
were rented. All that could be spared by the family were first 
taken, and then a room was fitted up in a house across the 
street as a laboratory. Then another room was taken in 
the house No. 5 Garden Street as a " library." Later, an- 
other room was taken in this house, — a delightful room, — in 
which the students sat about in easy chairs and listened to 
learned lectures, or took notes on the great tables with which 
the room was well supplied. It was in those halcyon days that 
Mr. John Holmes, who occupied the house numbered 5 Ap- 
pian Way, had pity on the young aspirants for collegiate honors 
as they took their admission examinations, and sent over the 
way certain refreshments which bore a likeness to those which 
the Council of Radcliffe is in these later days wont to supply 
from the funds of the treasury. On one occasion a guardian 
angel in the form of a mortal woman of kindly heart came day 
by day with refreshments for two of the candidates under her 
special charge, and was found by the secretary sitting on a 
hard bench in the Common near by, suffering the hottest rays 
of the July sun, thinking that her swelterings were naught, if 
only the girls could make clear their title to a Harvard educa- 
tion ! Many a tale could be told of those primitive days. The 
" Harvard education " was won. 

When all the spare rooms on Appian Way had been ex- 
hausted, a building became a necessity, and then it was that 
Miss Fay of her own accord called upon Mrs. Gilman to ask if 
the Annex would not buy her homestead for its future quarters. 
The family which had so long occupied the old home had grad- 
ually left it, and now it was at the disposition of the " experi- 
ment." The hopes that we had been almost afraid to encourage 
in the days before we were daring enough to even speak of the 
plan were ready to be realized. It was with feelings that can 
be imagined better than they can be written or printed that 
Mrs. Gilman reported the good news. The offer was brought 
before the " Corporation," for in anticipation of the need of 
real estate the managers had become a corporation, and the 
Fay House with its surrounding land was purchased. Adjoin- 
ing land has since been added, and the estate now comprises 
more than twice as many square feet as it then did. 

The first stage in the history that we are following ended at 
the time that Fay House was purchased, when it had become a 



184 RADCLIFFE COLLEGE. 

necessity to begin to raise a fund for the endowment of the 
institution. The ladies and certain others who at the time be- 
came associated with them became a corporation under the 
general statutes of Massachusetts, October 16, 1882, with the 
title " The Society for the Collegiate Instruction of Women," 
though this inconvenient name was seldom used, the nickname, 
" Harvard Annex," invented by a student of the college, it is 
said, being made to serve instead, in all except formal docu- 
ments and official utterances. The change in title, however, 
caused no change in the work or in the progress. Things went 
on as usual, though every year it was evident that the new 
quarters would not continue to suffice for the growing classes. 
Twice Fay House has been enlarged. At first the old wing in 
the rear was taken off and an addition made in that direction 
which increased the capacity of the building twofold. Again 
an auditorium was made on the Mason Street side with rooms 
above and below it,, for lecture-rooms and other purposes. 
These additions have been so skillfully designed that visitors 
are not able to find the line that divides the new from the old, 
and indeed, they often take the staircase for a construction of 
the " colonial " period, though it is a creation upon which the 
minds and taste of the entire corporation and of the architects 
were brought to bear but a few years ago. A notable improve- 
ment in the premises was the addition of the third story. Miss 
Fay had changed the roof some years before, but now all of her 
work was taken away, and a new floor was made which con- 
tains the. library, a room for the elegance and convenience of 
which the corporation is indebted to the generosity of Miss 
Longfellow. It is the most charming portion of the edifice 
now. 

The third stage in the work is marked by the incorporation 
of the managers as Radcliffe College, which was done by a 
special act of the legislature, the signature of the governor 
having been affixed to it March 23, 1894. This act was the 
subject of much deliberation both within and without the halls 
of legislation. It was the result of long and careful consid- 
eration on the part of the President and Fellows of Harvard 
College and of the Overseers, as well as the managers of the 
Society for the Collegiate Instruction of Women. It was dis- 
cussed no less by others interested in the welfare of women in 
Boston and New York, and many opinions were expressed both 



THE HEALTH OF WOMEN STUDENTS. 



185 



for and against the plan, but after a long and careful hearing 
on the part of the Committee of the Legislature on Education 
the step was taken with unanimity, and as one of the members 
of the committee remarked, both sides seemed to be pleased 
with the result. 

The growth of the work is perhaps shown better in figures 
than in any other way. The following table exhibits the num- 
ber of students each year from the first, with the receipts from 
tuition-fees and the expenses for salaries. The accounts for 
the current year are, of course, not made up, but the number 
of students is already over 350, and the other figures will show 
an increase over all previous years. 



Year. 


No of Stu- 
dents. 

25 


Fees. 


Salaries. 


1879-80 


$3,725.00 


$5,171.00 


1880-81 


47 


4,786.25 


6,363.32 


1881-82 


38 


5,017.50 


6,549.56 


1882-83 


41 


3,899.38 


7,778.48 


1883-84 


49 


5,581.25 


7,950.20 


1884-85 


55 


7,193.75 


8,725.00 


1885-86 


73 


9,661.25 


9,400.00 


1886-87 


90 


12,113.75 


13,525.00 


1887-88 


103 


13,475.00 


13,064.00 


1888-89 


115 


15,460.00 


14,575.00 


1889-90 


142 


20,018.32 


18,925.00 


1890-91 


174 


25,035.00 


21,700.00 


1891-92 


241 


34,010.00 


27,686.00 


1892-93 


263 


37,240.00 


31,929.00 


1893-94 


255 


42,845.00 


34,112.50 


1894-95 


284 


49,626.83 


47,667.00 



In writing of her experiences in America, Dr. Anna Kuhnow, 
of Leipsic, speaks of the " enviable position of women " among 
us, and adds that she missed " the feeble health with which they 
are so widely credited in Germany. I may safely assert," she 
continues, " that among these college students were the health- 
iest women, both physically and mentally, that I have ever 
met/' This emphatic testimony is supported by the experience 
of Radcliffe College. 

Our record closes as the third stage in the history of Ead- 
cliffe opens. It is an interesting point. It finds the college 
strong in the affections of a body of graduates that any college 
might well be proud of, many of whom have already won for 



186 RADCLIFFE COLLEGE. 

themselves honors in the academic world ; it is sustained by the 
body of ladies (with the loss of two, and with some additions) 
which originally became responsible for it ; many of the pro- 
fessors who began with the work are yet on the list of teachers, 
and to them many have been added ; in a large sense the ori- 
ginal end has been attained, for Harvard College is now respon- 
sible for it, and its diplomas bear upon them the great seal of 
the older institution and the signature of its president. Rad- 
cliffe College has the authority and the power, with the power- 
ful aid of Harvard College, to accomplish all that can be at- 
tained for the best education of women. It has the advantage 
of the experience and the traditions of two centuries and a half. 



THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF CAMBRIDGE. 

By FRANK A. HILL, 

SECRETARY OF THE MASSACHUSETTS BOARD OF EDUCATION. 

The scope of this article does not permit a detailed history 
of the public schools of Cambridge. It is limited, therefore, to 
the following themes : — 

1. The " faire Grammar Schoole " and its heirs, with some 
account of the development of public education for girls. 

2. The Cambridge high schools. 

3. The schools of Cambridge fifty years ago. 

4. The public school system of Cambridge to-day. 

" THE FAIRE GRAMMAR SCHOOLE." 

Could the colonists have foreseen the great things that were 
to issue from their humble school beginnings, the record of those 
beginnings would not be the scant and incomplete story that 
has come down to us. It is not until 1643 that we find any 
authentic account of a school in Cambridge. In that year the 
curtain suddenly rises on Elijah Corlett's " faire Grammar 
Schoole," by the side of the college. 

There is abundant reason for believing, however, that Cam- 
bridge was not without a school for some years prior to this 
date. We catch a glimpse of the Boston Latin School as early 
as 1635, in the pathetic record of the town that " our brother 
Philemon Pormort shall be intreated " to become its master. 
Salem, Charlestown, and Dorchester also had schools before 
1640. 

The conditions for the early existence of a school were as 
favorable in Cambridge as elsewhere in the colony. When the 
town was founded in 1631, the intention was to make it the for- 
tified political centre of the colony. It speedily became instead 
an important residential and intellectual centre. A writer in 
1637 pictures it with artless exaggeration as one of the " neat- 



188 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF CAMBRIDGE. 

est towns" in New England, with many " fair structures" and 
" handsome contrived streets." The inhabitants, " most of 
them," he adds, were " very rich." We know from other 
sources that many of them had scholarly tastes. Moreover, Har- 
vard College was founded in 1636, opened in 1638, and its first 
class of nine young men was graduated in 1612. In the work 
of fitting boys for Harvard, Cambridge would naturally have 
had an early and prominent share. It chimes in with this the- 
ory of an earlier school that Mr. Corlett, when we first hear of 
him in 1643, was already in the possession of an established rep- 
utation as a teacher ; he " had very well approved himself for 
his abilities, dexterity and painfull! esse." His schoolhouse — 
the first one especially built for him in 1648, not by the town, 
but by President Dunster and Edward Goffe — was on the 
westerly side of Holyoke Street, between Harvard and Mount 
Auburn streets. At one time there were in his " lattin schoole " 
five Indian youths fitting for college. 

In 1642 the General Court made it the duty of Cambridge 
as of other towns to insist that parents and masters should 
properly educate their children, and to fine them if they neg- 
lected to do so. In 1647 the Court ordered the towns to ap- 
point teachers for the children, whose wages should be paid 
either by the parents or masters of such children, or by the 
inhabitants in general, as the majority " of those who order the 
prudentials of the town " should direct. Mr. Corlett had to 
look to the parents for his pay, but his fees from this source 
were so meagre that the town from time to time came to 
his rescue. Once it sold some land for his benefit, without 
prejudice " to the cow common ; " occasionally it levied a tax 
of a few pounds " for his encouragement ; " and in 1684, when 
he had grown old in the Service, — it was only two years before 
his death, — it voted to pay him annually twenty pounds so 
long as he should continue schoolmaster "in this place." The 
General Court made similar grants for Mr. Corlett's relief, so 
that his heart was touched, as he himself once quaintly said, 
by their " remarkable gentlenes and very tender dealings 
with a sad, afflicted, weake man, inconsiderate and rash some- 
times." 

The early grammar school which was required by law of 1647 
in every town of one hundred families was not a grammar school 
in the modern sense. It was Latin grammar and not English 



THE DAME SCHOOLS. 189 

that it taught. In brief, it was a college fitting school. While 
it was designed by law for " youth," it was exclusively a boys' 
school. Girls did not attend it for the simple reason that the 
idea of a girl's fitting for college, to say nothing of her going 
there, would have shocked the colonists. Indeed, girls did not 
usually attend the early reading and writing schools. To be 
sure, the law of 1647 was explicit, that after " the Lord hath 
increased " a town to fifty householders, " one within their 
towne " should be appointed " to teach all such children as shall 
resort to him to write and reade ; " but the girls did not gener- 
ally resort to him. 

Boston, for instance, established reading and writing schools 
in 1682, the Latin School being the only public school in town 
down to that time. There was, however, no formal provision 
for girls in such schools until October 19, 1789, when the 
town voted that " children of both sexes " should be taug'ht in 
the reading and writing schools of their newly reorganized 
system. Even then and for forty years thereafter, Boston 
girls were excluded from these schools from October to April ; 
and when finally, in 1828, they were graciously permitted to 
attend school, like the boys, all the year round, the policy of 
separating the sexes was begun, — a policy that is in vogue 
to-day in many grammar schools in the older sections of the 
city as well as in the four central high schools. 

Doubtless there were girls as well as boys in the early " dame 
schools." These were private schools that received children of 
the kindergarten age, although they were far from being con- 
ducted in the kindergarten spirit. In the old cemetery near 
Harvard Square lies the body of one of these useful dames, 
Mrs. Joanna Winship, who died in 1707. The tombstone of 
slate is solemnly decorated with crossbones, coffins, and a 
winged head, and bears the following quaint inscription, which 
is correct in point of fact and sound in metre, whatever may 
be thought of its poetic fire : — 

" This good school dame 
No longer school must keep, 
Which gives us cause 
For children's sake to weep." 

If girls received other education than that of the dame 
schools in the colonial or in the provincial period, it was usually 
in private schools of a slightly higher grade or at home, or they 



190 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF CAMBRIDGE. 

picked it up in such contact as they had with the world. In 
the latter part of the seventeenth century there was no educa- 
tion for women in England. Ladies highly born and bred, and 
naturally quick witted, could scarcely write a line without sole- 
cisms and faults in spelling that would " shame a charity girl." 
" Our forefathers were wise," said Lady Clarendon in 1685, 
" in not giving their daughters the education of writing." " I 
should be very much ashamed," she added, " that I ever learned 
Latin, if I had not forgotten it." The wife of President John 
Adams, born in 1744, said that female education in her day, 
even in the best families, seldom went beyond writing and 
arithmetic, and that " it was fashionable to ridicule female 
learning." 

Girls worked their way into the public schools as pupils very 
much as women worked their way into the same schools as 
teachers. At first, the public school teachers were men exclu- 
sively. Towards the latter part of the last century the town 
histories of Massachusetts give us glimpses of women taking 
charge of schools here and there, in a sporadic way, at first dur- 
ing the summer months, and then all the year round. If women 
were to teach, it was meet that girls should study. Thus began 
the slowly rising tide of sentiment that women as well as men 
had minds to train and to use in a serious sense, — a tide that 
is obviously nearing its flood in Cambridge, since we have in 
our midst to-day — our fathers would have stood amazed at the 
prospect — women training boys and girls for college, and a 
college wherein women are trained to do it. 

Corlett's schoolhouse on Holyoke Street, built by private en- 
terprise, came into possession of the town in 1660. In 1670 
the town built a second schoolhouse, and in 1700 a third one, 
on the same site. The fourth building was erected on Garden 
Street, a little west of Appian Way, in 1769, and the fifth fol- 
lowed it on the same spot in 1832. In 1852 the sixth building 
was erected on Brattle Street, and is occupied to-day by the 
Washington Grammar School, — in a sense, the lineal descend- 
ant of the " faire Grammar Schoole " of 1643. 

It is a curious history, — this transformation of a grammar 
school of the colonial type to a grammar school of the modern 
type. The dates of the nominal transformation may be assigned 
to the years 1845 and 1848, the change of 1845 being followed by 
a reaction, and the change for a finality taking place three years 



THE EARLY GRAMMAR SCHOOL. 191 

later. The modification in character, however, had been going 
on for many years. Although the records give us a glimpse of 
an " English schoolmaster " as early as 1680 " with at present 
but three scholars," it is only a glimpse. There was a time 
when with the boys studying classical subjects there began to 
be joined other boys who did not work beyond the " three R's." 
Nearer our own time these non-preparatory boys were joined 
by girls, some of whom still later had the audacity to venture 
upon Latin and even Greek in the college classes of the school. 
It was doubtless such a school as Edward Everett described 
in his address at the dedication of the Cambridge High School 
building, June 27, 1848. He remembered " as yesterday " 
(Everett was born in Dorchester in 1791) his first going to 
the village school, how he trudged along at the " valiant age 
of three," one hand grasping his elder sister's apron, and the 
other his little blue paper-covered primer, and how, when a 
traveler, stranger, or person in years passed by, they were wont 
to draw up by the roadside and greet him, — the girls with a 
courtesy and the boys with a bow. " A little reading, writing, 
and ciphering," added Everett, " a very little grammar, and 
for those destined for college a little Latin and Greek, very 
indifferently taught, were all we got at a common town school 
in my day." 

The school that has come down to us from Elijah Corlett's 
was undoubtedly a grammar school for a long time in a double 
sense, — an English grammar school for Old Cambridge and a 
Latin grammar school for all Cambridge ; and in popular allu- 
sions it was spoken of as a grammar school sometimes in one 
sense and sometimes in the other. That these were the facts in 
1832 appears from this rule of the school committee adopted 
December 7 of that year : " In addition to these studies (cer- 
tain English branches mentioned in another rule), the instruc- 
tor in Grammar School No. 1 (the Latin Grammar School on 
Garden Street) will teach to any children belonging to the town 
the rudiments of the Latin and Greek languages, and the 
studies generally preparatory for admission to college." More- 
over, while the children of the colonial public schools were 
practically of one sex, it had come to be clearly understood 
long before 1832 that the word "children" included both sexes, 
that the public schools, in short, were as much for girls as for 
boys ; so that we have in this rule of 1832 an official recogni- 



192 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF CAMBRIDGE. 

tion of what had been gradually coming into practice in Cam- 
bridge, — co-education in high school subjects. 

Years before this date ambitious girls might have been found 
here and there, more frequently in private schools than in public, 
working close up to the college doors, although it was hopeless 
for them to enter there, like Margaret Fuller, of Cambridge- 
port, subsequently Countess Ossoli, who in 1816, at the age of 
six, was studying Latin with her father, and whom we see again 
nine years later reciting Greek in the " C. P. P. G. S.," that is, 
in the Cambridge Port Private Grammar School, — a school 
for classical instruction where Richard Henry Dana and Oliver 
Wendell Holmes were among her schoolmates. Here was co- 
education in secondary subjects, though not in a public school, 
as early as 1825. In the same year a high school for girls 
was opened in Boston. Its very success was its defeat. It was 
crowded to overflowing, and scores were rejected. The citi- 
zens became alarmed. The threatened expense was enormous. 
Moreover, there were those who feared that girls in humble life 
would be educated beyond their station ! In less than two 
years, in the flush of prosperity, the school was voted out of 
existence, not to be revived for a quarter of a century. Bishop 
Clark, of Rhode Island, informs me that the Lowell High 
School, which was founded in 1831, had girls as well as boys 
in its membership from the beginning. He was the first 
principal of the school, and speaks, therefore, with authority. 
New Bedford opened a high school for both sexes earlier still. 
Of the fourteen high schools reported to be in existence in 
1838 in Massachusetts, there were several where co-education 
had been the rule for years. The higher education of girls 
was in the air. It was as much a factor in the conditions that 
led to the development of high schools as a product of that 
development. 

It is not, therefore, so very surprising after all, — the meta- 
morphosis that came to the Latin Grammar School on Garden 
Street, Corlett's old school, in 1840, for in that year it was 
divided, the boys remaining on Garden Street and the girls 
going to the Auburn School, in School Court, now known as 
Farwell Place, the schoolhouse for which was built in 1838. 
The girls were placed under a classical instructor, but not the 
boys, " the girls being more advanced than many of the boys ;" 
and this school d urine: its brief existence was known as the 



ELIJAH CORLETT'S SCHOOL. 193 

Auburn Female High School, although there were also in it 
misses of lower grades. 

From 1840 to 1845 the girls of Old Cambridge fared better 
than the boys so far as secondary instruction was concerned ; 
but the citizens chafing somewhat under the disadvantages of 
the boys, the Auburn School in 1845 was made a high school 
for both sexes, and the Garden Street School, known thereafter 
as the Washington School, a grammar school, for the first time 
in the exclusively modern sense, for both sexes. There was 
some opposition to bringing the sexes together in this way, 
but Rev. William A. Stearns, chairman of the school commit- 
tee and subsequently president of Amherst College, voiced the 
unanimous opinion of the committee that it was wise to do so. 
" In all the other schools of the town," he said, " boys and girls 
meet together every day without injury, we believe, to the 
morals of either." The evils feared, if they once existed, had 
"long since been entirely banished from them.'" " Children in 
our high and grammar schools [those of Cambridgeport and 
East Cambridge] are as decidedly delicate and respectful in 
their treatment of each other as any similar classes in our adult 
population." Nevertheless, there were parents who withdrew 
their daughters from the Auburn High School and the Wash- 
ington Grammar School, whereupon, in 1846, for reasons of 
economy, the two schools were united in the Auburn building 
under the name of the " Auburn Grammar and High School." 
Thus Elijah Corlett's school was once more under one roof, — 
partly a grammar school in the old sense, and partly a grammar 
school in the new sense. 

In 1848, there was another and final parting of company, 
the high school classes beino- transferred to the central high 
school, in Cambridgeport, and the other classes remaining 
under the name of the Auburn Grammar School. In 1851, 
the Auburn building and the Auburn School entered upon a 
period of travel, the building going first to North Avenue, and 
finally to Concord Avenue, where it stands to-day as the Dun- 
ster School, the school meanwhile moving into Lyceum Hall, 
then into its old building again as it stood rejuvenated on 
North Avenue, then into the vestry of the Baptist church that 
once stood near the present college gymnasium, and finally, in 
June, 1852, into its new quarters on Brattle Street, where it 
became known once more as the Washington Grammar School, 



194 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF CAMBRIDGE. 

and where it has remained to this day. Thus at length came 
to rest the perturbed spirit of Elijah Corlett's transformed, dis- 
membered, and wandering school, not quite sure but it ought to 
claim a burial urn in the Cambridge High School, or in one 
or the other of its branches, but content, on the whole, to be 
known as the loyal ancestral shade of the Washington Grammar 
School. This is the reason why a brownstone tablet in the 
outer wall of the Washington building tells the reader that 
that school is the lineal descendant of the " faire Grammar 
Schoole " of 1643. 

THE CAMBEIDGE HIGH SCHOOLS. 

In 1838 a high school was organized in Cambridgeport for the 
entire town, in a building erected for it at the corner of Broad- 
way and Winsor Street. Its first teacher was Edward F. 
Barnes. This school, so I am informed by John Livermore, 
who was a member of the school committee as early as 1843, 
had girls as well as boys from its start. It was not convenient 
of access either for East Cambridge or for Old Cambridge. 
Moreover, it did not stand well in the graces of Old Cambridge. 
For two centuries the classical instruction of the town had had 
its home there under the eaves of the college. Corlett's tree 
was not to be pulled up by the roots and set out in a new and 
distant part of the town without a protest. Accordingly, the 
high school of 1838, although it was the town high school for 
five years, drew its pupils mainly from Cambridgeport. 

In 1843, the Otis schoolhouse, " quite a magnificent struc- 
ture," was completed for East Cambridge, and on its upper 
floor was opened a high and grammar school with Justin A. 
Jacobs and Miss Almira Seymour as teachers. At the same 
time, Richard T. Austin and Miss L. M. Damon were teachers 
in the " Female High School " of Old Cambridge. Thus, in 
1843, the three sections or wards of the town had each its high 
school, with a man for its principal and a woman to assist him. 
The high school of Ward One, as we have seen, was for girls. 
Inasmuch as it also contained girls of grammar school grades, 
it was as often called a high and grammar school as a high 
school. The high schools of Wards Two and Three were for 
both sexes, that of Ward Two being the only one in the town 
not associated with grammar school pupils. 

In 1847, the plan of uniting the high school pupils of the 



A HIGH SCHOOL. 195 

three wards was revived. A high school for the city (Cam- 
bridge had ceased to be a town May 4, 1846) was opened Octo- 
ber 4 of that year in the high school building of Cambridge- 
port, with Elbridge Smith as master and Miss N. W. Manning 
as assistant. Seventy-four pupils were admitted, all but one 
from the " Port " and the " Point." The single exception was 
the mayor's daughter from Old Cambridge. Members of the 
city council from Old Cambridge had said in substance to their 
associates, " Place your high school where you choose, we shall 
make no use of it." This attitude, however, was not long main- 
tained. In June, 1848, the high school of Old Cambridge was 
closed, and in the following September its pupils took their 
seats with the high school pupils of the rest of the city. Thus 
that classical instruction which began in " the faire Grammar 
Schoole " more than two hundred years before, after many 
vicissitudes and transformations, was finally switched off from 
the lineal successor of that school, and merged in a high school 
that had come into existence before this diversion took place. 
This was the beginning of the Cambridge High School, in the 
sense of its being in reality the high school for the entire city. 
The ideas that had long and fruitlessly sought to make the high 
school organized in Cambridgeport in 1838 a high school for 
the town rather than for Ward Two had at last triumphed. 
One happy result of the triumph was the reduction of sectional 
jealousies and the growth of more sympathetic relations between 
the somewhat isolated villages that made up the city of that 
time. The school started under propitious skies. It began in 
a new building erected for it at the corner of Amory and Sum- 
mer streets, Edward Everett, president of Harvard College, 
giving the dedicatory address, — an eloquent and inspiring 
effort. There were at once overflowing numbers. The school 
committee, with stringent standards of admission in mind, had 
asked for a building for 60 pupils. The Common Council, 
taking a larger look at the future, provided for 108. The pub- 
lic, heedless of them both, furnished at the July examination for 
admission 107 pupils, 41 boys and 6Q girls, and in September, 
when the school opened, 31 more. 

In 1864 the high school moved into its third home at the 
corner of Broadway and Fayette Street, — at that time one of 
the best equipped and most elegant schoolhouses in the State. 

In 1886, the high school was divided, its classical depart- 



196 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF CAMBRIDGE. 

ment becoming the Cambridge Latin School, and its remaining 
departments the Cambridge English High School. The Latin 
School was transferred to the Lee Street church, which had been 
fitted up to receive it. The English High School retained the 
old building. The separation took place March 1, 1886, both 
schools continuing in charge of William F. Bradbury until 
September of that year, when Frank A. Hill entered upon his 
duties as head master of the English High School, Mr. Brad- 
bury continuing as head master of the Latin School. 

In 1892 the English High School moved into its present 
commodious and beautiful building on Broadway, between 
Trowbridge and Ellery streets. This structure was erected on 
land presented to the city by Frederick H. Rindge and at a cost 
to the city of 8230,000. 

In September, 1888, the Cambridge Manual Training School 
for Boys, founded and maintained by Mr. Rindge, and placed 
under the superintendence of Harry Ellis, was opened to the 
boys of the English High School. 

As soon as the building at the corner of Broadway and Fay- 
ette Street was vacated by the English High School, it was 
remodeled and put into excellent order for the Latin School, 
which took possession of it September 6, 1892. The growth of 
the school has made it necessary to plan a new building for it, 
to cost not far from $250,000, and to stand on land adjacent 
to the English High School building and the Public Library. 

Upon the completion of this building, Cambridge will be able 
to point to a decade of high school development unparalleled 
in the history of the Commonwealth, — a decade at whose be- 
ginning we see two high schools chafing under cramped condi- 
tions, without a suspicion of interest in a certain pasture not far 
away in Old Cambridge, where the cows were wont to feed in 
summer and the boys and girls to skate in winter, but at whose 
end we find the pasture transformed to a park, and the park 
dignified and adorned by the most complete and varied group 
of educational structures in Massachusetts. Grounds, build- 
ings, and improvements will represent, all told, an investment 
of nearly a million dollars, — in part the present and prospec- 
tive gifts of a gentleman who thus munificently expresses his 
love for his old home, and in part the munificent response of 
the city to these gifts and to her sense of high regard for the 
welfare of her youth. 



THE RECORD OF THE PAST. 197 

The close of the decade, it may be quietly added in passing, 
will also see Old Cambridge once more in possession of that 
secondary instruction whose transfer from her borders she so 
strenuously opposed from 1838 to 1848. 

It is worthy of note that since 1886 the two high schools have 
each doubled in number, neither checking in any way the prog- 
ress of the other. 

CAMBRIDGE SCHOOLS FIFTY YEARS AGO. 

It is idle to claim that schools are ever free from faults or 
that they are ever as good as they can be. Perfect schools 
require the impossible conjunction of innumerable happy con- 
ditions in innumerable cases. The absence of one of these con- 
ditions in a single case means, to that extent, friction, estrange- 
ment, soreness, or failure. Among these conditions are a wise 
and generous public attitude towards schools, suitable buildings 
and equipment, able, tactful, and inspiring teachers, intelligent 
and helpful parents, well-born and well-bred children, concert 
of views as to the aims, subjects, and methods of education, 
loyal and steady devotion from all parties to the work of the 
school, and so on. More of these conditions are realized in 
Cambridge to-day than fifty years ago. With admitted room 
for improvement, Cambridge schools offer to-day as fine facili- 
ties for a sound education as any in the Commonwealth or in 
the country. Much of our present development is the fruit of 
what was said and done fifty years ago. 

Dipping at once into the record of the past and following 
no order but the suggestions of that record, we "learn from the 
school committee of 1843 that show exhibitions are injurious, 
as striving for appearances more than for realities, for display 
more than for usefulness. In the same year teachers' meetings 
are held weekly, and members of the committee are sometimes 
present. Improvements in one school thus become known to 
the other schools, and errors in teaching are less likely to 
become chronic. Corporal punishment is reported as dimin- 
ishing. One master has gone so far as to lay it aside alto- 
gether, — a seemingly dangerous experiment, — but the order 
has improved, the pupils are more attached to their teacher, 
and greater progress in study has been made. More attention 
is paid to reading than formerly. It is important that good 
habits of reading should be formed in the primary schools. 



198 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF CAMBRIDGE. 

The duty of parents to converse correctly with their children, 
to listen to their reading, to make the fireside the ally of the 
schoolroom, is emphasized. The attendance of children at 
school is very irregular. It has been improved somewhat by 
requiring children to bring excuses from their parents before 
being allowed to take their seats. Such works as Sparks's 
Lives of Washington and Franklin should be placed in school 
libraries, — an invaluable substitute for juvenile romances and 
cheap newspaper novels. 

During the year 1843, it appears that the school committee 
made five hundred and eighty-three visits to the schools. The 
appropriation for schools was $ 8,500. The expense of the 
schools is indeed great, say the committee, but great good is 
received in return. There is no sect or party arrayed against 
them. Families come to Cambridge because of her schools. 

From the report of 1844, it appears that the schools are 
classified into five grades or kinds, — alphabet, primary, middle, 
grammar, and high. In the high and grammar schools, the 
cost of instruction per pupil was $9.88 for the year ; in the 
middle schools, $2.96 ; and in the schools below, $2.81. 

With all their painstaking and in spite of the admonition of 
the town, the committee of 1843 overran their appropriation 
by $263. " ' Cut your coat according to your cloth ' is indeed 
a good general maxim ; but it is certainly better to get a little 
more cloth than to spoil the garment." 

It is interesting in this fiftieth year of Cambridge as a city 
to note a certain tendency among many intelligent people to 
compare the schooling of the present unfavorably with that of 
the past. Admitting the real superiority of the old schooling in 
some points or in some localities, for all change from the past is 
not necessarily for the better, we are nevertheless sure that some 
of the alleged superiority exists only in the minds of those who 
unwittingly carry into their maturity the sincere but poor little 
school judgments of their childhood or who, in an equally art- 
less way, project the attainments of their maturity into the 
schools of their childhood, as if, forsooth, such attainments were 
then and there fully fledged. How common the remark of the 
critics that our pupils to-day are poorer spellers than were those 
of fifty years ago ! But note the plaint of the school committee 
of 1844 : " A few of the schools excel in reading, while most of 
them, both in reading and spelling, are lamentably deficient. 



SCHOOLHOUSES OVERHAULED. 199 

. . . There is an unaccountable reluctance on the part of both 
teachers and scholars to use the spelling-book, — a book which, 
in the days of their fathers, was ever acknowledged ' the only 
sure guide to the English Tongue." . . . The committee are 
unanimously of opinion that the attainments in this branch are 
altogether inferior to what was witnessed in our schools twenty 
or thirty years ago." 

The committee of 1844 protest also against many studies, 
causing superficial knowledge, and increasing not only the 
expenses of education, but habits of inaccuracy, slackness, and 
inattention, — a kind of protest with which we are familiar in 
our time, the smoke, as it were, of the irrepressible conflict be- 
tween two ideas, that of thoroughness and that of breadth, each 
educationally sound, although either pushed to extremes crowds 
the other to the wall. 

The crying need of the schools, say the committee of 1844, 
is good teachers. The qualities wanted in them are of a high 
order, — an assemblage of attainments and virtues seldom found 
in one person. In case a teacher fails, however worthy or needy 
he may be, it is better that he should suffer through loss of 
position than that a whole school through him should waste or 
lose its golden days. The evils of irregularity in 1844 are very 
great, it not being unusual for a quarter of the pupils to be 
absent from school at one time. Collisions between parents and 
teachers in matters of discipline have been comparatively rare. 
It is hoped that teachers will continue to have the coimtenance 
of all good men in their endeavors to banish lying, obscen- 
ity, profanity, and every other vice and impropriety from the 
schools. 

In 1846, it appears that many schools are too large, and that 
teachers cannot hear as many lessons as the scholars are able to 
learn. Hence idleness, lack of quiet, and lack of discipline. 
Eighty or ninety pupils tax a teacher unduly. 

The schoolhouses this year received a thorough overhauling 
from the committee. One schoolhouse is well built, but has no 
ventilation. Another is " truly a noble building," but not with- 
out defects, for although one room is well ventilated and in 
good order, another has a floor badly shrunken, burned, and 
unclean, while certain plastering is falling, and the cellar con- 
tains water. Other buildings come in for a denunciation that 
is merciless : they are " old, leaky and rotten ; " " shamefully 



200 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF CAMBRIDGE. 

marked, dirty, and uninviting ; " fences marred with words and 
cuts " too recent to allow any apology for the depravity which 
occasioned them ; " a " magnificent structure," — " an ornament 
to the town if it can be preserved from unseemly mutilations," 
and yet unskillfully or unfaithfully built, with a leaky roof, no 
gutters, water in the cellar, and dampness threatening to health ; 
a building uncomely and shamefully disfigured without and 
within, and yet, " for a wonder, well ventilated ; " " the worst 
in town, a dirty looking affair, presenting a melancholy con- 
trast to that physical and moral cleanness which our common 
schools are expected to secure ; " and so on, with mingled 
praise and censure, to the end of the list. 

As a result of this fearless presentation, a general purifica- 
tion and renovation of the school buildings began. There has 
been a steady advance in schoolhouse conditions, until to-day 
the evils that grieved good people a half -century ago are nearly, 
but not quite, gone. A great building like that of the English 
High School, with hundreds using it daily, kept with the clean- 
liness of a well-kept private house, with scarcely a pencil mark 
or trace of unseemly scribbling or hacking about it after years 
of occupancy, its lawns respected and the tulips and pansies 
blooming undisturbed in the open about it, — such a vision 
sixty years ago would have seemed a millennial dream. And 
yet such conditions are becoming the rule where once they 
were striking exceptions. 

In 1844 there were parents who did not take kindly to writ- 
ing excuses for tardy or absent children, and some of them 
betook themselves to sending saucy words to the teachers in 
such notes. " If the regulation is injudicious," say the commit- 
tee, " the blame should rest with us who made it, and not with 
the teachers." 

While the improvement of the schools in 1844 was commend- 
able, there were exceptions. " Some children have a habit of 
always behaving as bad as they can upon every introduction of 
a new teacher. In some instances, one or two whole quarters 
have been nearly lost by this means." Parents were held by 
the committee as partially responsible for such rebellions, which 
sometimes were not quelled until the refractory had received 
the severest punishment or been expelled from school. Not 
long before, Horace Mann had reported that more than 300 
schools in the State had been closed in a single year, because of 



IMPROVED MORALS. 201 

the incompetency of teachers or the insubordination of pupils. 
Cambridge, in 1844, had not completely emerged from this 
mania of school insurrection, the sad product of false and 
strained relations between the teacher and the taught, but the 
good work of deliverance was well under way at that time. 
" Scolding and fretting, angry and reproachful words, are fast 
giving place to milder and more powerful modes of influence. 
It is a pleasure to visit schools where a benevolent teacher pre- 
sides, with easy dignity, over an orderly group of cheerful and 
industrious children, and infuses into their susceptible minds an 
affection for each other, with a love of study and of God." 

In March, 1846, the report of the school committee, the last 
for the town, begins thus : " The School Committee of Cam- 
bridge render thanks to Almighty God, and congratulate their 
fellow-citizens, in view of the present unusual prosperity of the 
schools." The year 1845 was one of marked activity and prog- 
ress. The scathing review of the schoolhouses a year or two 
before had borne fruit. Repairs were made, houses cleansed 
and some painted, offensive marks removed, and a substantial 
beginning made towards better schoolhouse conditions. Music 
was introduced as a science for discipline ; as an attainment, if 
not accomplishment ; and as a means for refreshment, good 
order, and right feeling. The ground was taken, in the matter 
of school work, that school study of a severe sort is less injuri- 
ous probably to the body, the mind, and the morals " than that 
listlessness and idleness in which the intervals between recita- 
tions are too often worn away." More time should be given 
the children for recreation out of school, more work to do in 
school. 

In morals a marked progress was noted for 1845. The habit 
of defacing buildings was nearly broken up ; public sentiment 
had developed strongly against such abuse. Profane and impure 
language had diminished. The habit of truth-telling had gained 
ground. The duty of reverence was strongly urged in the report 
of 1845, — reverence to parents, to one's self, to teachers, to 
magistrates, and to all superiors in years and goodness. 

Classes were still too large for the teachers. Cambridge was 
still outstripped by twenty-three towns and cities of the Com- 
monwealth in the amount of money raised per child for school- 
ing, Somerville raising $7.64, Boston $6.76, Chelsea $5.58, 
Charlestown $5.09, Newton $4.26, and Cambridge $3.95. 



202 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF CAMBRIDGE. 

Still, Cambridge had risen from the thirty-fifth place the pre- 
ceding year to the twenty-fourth, and that was cause for con- 
gratulation. The committee, however, did not think " it should 
be an object of ambition what town will expend the most money, 
but what town can produce the best schools." 

Here the records must be dropped. Even in their fullness, 
the story they tell is somewhat meagre ; and it is only a snatch 
or two from that story that is given here. It is not the story of 
a golden age in our school history, except so far as that age 
might have lived in the dreams of men who sought to advance 
the schools. It is certain, however, that the graphic, high-toned, 
and fearless reports of William A. Stearns 1 and his associates 
did wonders in quickening the town's educational conscience, 
and in toning up the schools to the better standards of the 
times. 

THE SCHOOLS OF CAMBRIDGE TO-DAY. 

The School Committee of Cambridge numbers fifteen mem- 
bers. The term of service is three years, one third of the 
committee retiring each year. Thus the board is practically a 
continuous body, always containing a majority that have had 
experience in school management. The mayor is chairman ex 
officio. The best men and women of the city respond freely to 
the public demand for their service on the board, and the list 
of past members contains many a name of state and even 
national reputation. This service has been admirably supple- 
mented and strengthened by the gentlemen who have served as 
superintendents of schools since 1868 : Edwin B. Hale, from 
1868 until 1874, and Francis Cogswell, from 1874 to the pres- 
ent time. Whether guiding or executing progressive educa- 
tional policies, Mr. Cogswell has shown rare wisdom and tact, 
and throughout his prolonged experience has enjoyed the unin- 
terrupted confidence of his committee, the schools, and the 
public. 

It is usually understood that the first superintendent of 
schools in Massachusetts was appointed in Springfield in 1840. 
Cambridge records show, however, that the town warrant of 
March 17, 1836, contained an article with reference to employ- 
ing a superintendent of schools, that the school committee, 

1 Rev. William A. Stearns was the president of Amherst College, from 
1854 to the time of his death in 1876. — Editor. 



A WIDE RANGE. 203 

April 15, 1836, voted to employ one of their number in that 
capacity, that Josiah Hayward was accordingly elected super- 
intendent, April 25, 1836, and that his salary was fixed at 
$250. The office was not kept up long in Cambridge ; but in 
Springfield it was permanent, so that Springfield's claim to 
priority has a pretty solid basis. 

The high school system of Cambridge embraces practically 
three schools, — the Cambridge Latin School, under the head 
mastership of William F. Bradbury, with 14 teachers and 388 
pupils ; the Cambridge English High School, under the head 
mastership of Ray Greene Hiding, with 21 teachers and 674 
pupils ; and the Cambridge Manual Training School for Boys, 
under the superintendency of Charles H. Morse, with 10 regu- 
lar teachers, 3 special instructors, and 172 boys, these boys 
being a portion of the 674 pupils in the English High School. 
These are the figures for December, 1895. 

Our schools give a wide range of choice to ambitious youth. 
Does a young man wish to fit for Harvard, a young woman for 
Radcliffe ? It can be thoroughly done in the Latin School, 
which has a five years' course for the purpose. Promising stu- 
dents can do the work in four years. Preparation for either of 
these colleges will answer for any corresponding college that 
may be selected. Has the pupil in thought the Institute of 
Technology or the Lawrence Scientific School? He may pre- 
pare himself in the English High School, with or without man- 
ual training. Is it an eminently practical course in carpentry, 
wood-turning, forging, machine-shop practice, and mechanical 
drawing, with sympathetic academical work, that is sought, — 
training in the alphabet and primer of the trades that aims to 
fit one to respond to the changing demands of industrial life ? 
There is the Manual Training School, furnishing one half of 
such a course, and the English High School the other. Or is 
it an all-round and broader schooling that is wanted, with less 
of the classics and more of the sciences and English than in the 
traditional college course, — something that leads up to the nor- 
mal school or to the college that admits without Greek, or to 
what we call the general-culture purposes of life? It is just 
this schooling that the English High School aims to provide. 

Cambridge has nine grammar schools, each for both sexes, 
with six grades of pupils. The following table of these schools 
is based on the data of December, 1895 : — 



204 



THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF CAMBRIDGE. 



Schools. 


When 

founded. 


Teachers. 


Pupils. 


Principals. 


Allston .... 
Harvard .... 

Peabody .... 
Putnam .... 
Shepard .... 
Thorudike 
Washington . . 
Webster .... 
Wellington . . 


1848 
1841 
1890 
1889 
1845 
1852 
1861 
1842 
1S53 
1884 


14 
19 
11 

7 
18 
12 
13 
14 
17 

5 1 


571 

742 
414 
295 
688 
449 
488 
453 
685 
435 


Benjamin W. Roberts. 
James S. Barrell. 
Mary A. Town send. 
Frederick S. Cutter. 
Thomas W. Davis. 
Edward 0. Grover. 
Ruel H. Fletcher. 
John W. Freese. 
John D. Billings. 
Herbert H. Bates. 



The history and work of these great schools merit a larger 
notice than is here possible. It may be said in passing that 
Mr. Roberts has been principal of the Allston School from its 
beginning. At the age of eighty, he shows the vigor and pro- 
gressive spirit of his prime. Many of these schools had an 
existence under other names and conditions before the dates of 
their founding as given above, like the Shepard, which was 
known as the Winthrop before 1852, and earlier still as the 
North Grammar ; or like the Webster, known from 1841 to 
1853 as the Mason ; or like the Thorndike, which, previous to 
1861, was the Otis, — the school which, from 1843 to 1847, was 
known as the High and Grammar School of East Cambridge ; 
or like the Washington, whose history, as we have seen, makes 
it difficult to assign a satisfactory date for its founding. The 
Morse and Wellington schools have primary in addition to the 
grammar grades. 

In addition to these ten grammar schools mentioned there 
are three others that contain grammar pupils to the number of 
388 (December, 1895), — the Corlett, Agassiz, and Sleeper. 
These schools send their pupils of the upper grades to such of 
the other grammar schools as are in their vicinity. With the 
exception of the Corlett, the same schools have primary as well 
as grammar grades. 

The Wellington School is a training school for teachers. 
There had previously been a training school from 1870 to 1882. 
An interval of two years without such a school brought into 
bold relief its value to the city. Consequently, in 1884, the 
present school was organized. It has a small regular force of 

1 Assisted by the training class. 



INGENIOUS AND UNIQUE FEATURES. 205 

teachers, selected with reference to their ability, not only to 
teach, but to guide novices in the art. In addition there are 
from twenty to thirty pupil teachers, graduates of normal 
schools, and others of equivalent previous training, who are 
paid humble salaries, and who, as they prove their ability to do 
creditable work, are put into the schools of the city as substi- 
tutes or regular teachers. 

Mr. Cogswell has arranged an ingenious plan, under which 
capable pupils may regularly, and in classes, complete the six 
years' course of the grammar schools in five years, and even in 
four. The report of the superintendent for 1894 shows that, of 
563 graduates of the grammar schools, ten per cent, completed 
the course in four years, thirty-two per cent, in five years, forty- 
two per cent, in six years, and sixteen per cent, in seven or 
more years. The saving in time and money, both to the city 
and to the pupil, in this individual shortening of the course 
is much in its favor. Moreover, it is better intellectually and 
morally that one should work somewhere near his capacity for 
four years than dawdle along in the rear of that capacity for 
six. 

A unique feature in the Cambridge grammar schools is the 
employment of special teachers to help forward such pupils as 
seem able to do the work in less than the prescribed time, as 
well as such pupils as threaten to take more than the prescribed 
time. 

Geometry and physics have recently been put into the gram- 
mar schools, — the course in geometry having been outlined 
by Professor Paul H. Hanus and that in physics by Professor 
Edwin H. Hall, both of Harvard University. The instruction 
is limited to such simple elementary principles as may be read- 
ily apprehended by the young, and the methods of study are 
lai'gely objective and experimental. 

In the primary schools there are 5087 pupils and 116 teach- 
ers. They are under the immediate supervision of a " Special 
Teacher of Primary Schools," whose work is directed by the 
superintendent of schools. Miss Lelia A. Mirick, now Mrs. 
Frederick S. Cutter, was the first to hold this position, which 
was created in 1892. She was suceeeded in 1895 by Miss 
Mary A. Lewis. The course of study is for three years. Of 
the 1159 pupils graduated in June, 1894, ten per cent, com- 
pleted this course in less than three years, fifty-eight per cent. 



206 THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF CAMBRIDGE. 

in three years, and thirty-two per cent, in more than three years. 
Regular instruction in botany has recently been introduced ; 
also the Ling system of Swedish gymnastics. 

For eleven years Mrs. Quincy A. Shaw of Boston maintained 
three free kindergartens in Cambridge. A fourth was sup- 
ported by a few Cambridge ladies. In 1889 the school com- 
mittee assumed them as a part of the public school system and 
since that time have gradually added to their number until to- 
day there are eight kindergartens with 417 pupils and sixteen 
teachers. 

The city employs several special teachers. Mr. Frederick E. 
Chapman is director of music and Mr. James M. Stone director 
of drawing. There are also teachers of botany, gymnastics, and 
sewing. 

The city maintains one evening high school, four evening ele- 
mentary schools, and one evening drawing school. 

It is sad that the blessings of school so prized by the vast 
majority of our citizens should fail to impress some of our 
number. Absenteeism in a bad sense has been heavily reduced 
since the founding of the city, but it still exists. Whatever its 
cause, whether the ignorance, indifference, misfortune, greed of 
gain, inability to control, or what not of the parent, it should be 
kept down to a minimum both for the children's sake and for 
that of their families and the community. Hence the employ- 
ment by the city of four truant officers who are in constant 
touch with the teachers on the one hand and the irregulars on 
the other. 

A comparison of Cambridge statistics for 1845, the last year 
of the town, with those for 1895, the fiftieth of the city, reveals 
surprising changes. 

1845 1895 

Population 12,000 82,000 

Valuation $8,600,000 §82,000,000 

Cost of instruction 11,558 235,812 

Cost per pupil 3.95 20.50 

Percentage of valuation spent on schools . . . .0013 mills. .0034 mills. 

Ratio of school tax to the whole tax .... 33% 33% 

Number of pupils 2151 12,174 

Number of teachers 30 322 

Number of pupils per teacher 71 38 

Salary of high school principal 3800 .$3,000 

Salary of grammar school principal 700 2,000 

Salary of grammar school teachers 250 620 



THE MODERN DRIFT. 207 

This comparison shows that our population during the past 
fifty years has increased sevenfold, our valuation tenfold, the 
cost of instruction per pupil about fivefold, the percentage of 
valuation expended on schools nearly threefold, and the salaries 
of teachers about threefold, while the number of pupils per 
teacher has been reduced nearly one half. The ratio of the 
school tax to the entire tax has remained, however, about the 
same, indicating that whatever advance there may have been in 
school expenditures, there has been a like advance in all other 
departments of the government. In striking contrast with this 
growth of expense in certain things is the decrease in expense 
of many other things, — text-books, pictures, freight, travel, and 
the like. Such changes are a part of our civilization. Cam- 
bridge has simply borne her part in the irresistible modern 
drift. The days of content with wretched buildings, scant 
equipment, worn books from former generations, meagre sala- 
ries, narrow programmes, and the entire scale of humble school 
expenditure are seemingly gone forever, not simply in Cam- 
bridge, but in all Massachusetts communities of consequence. 
Were Cambridge suddenly and alone to go back to those 
Arcadian times when it cost her only $3.95 per pupil for in- 
struction, she would drop from the thirty-sixth place which she 
holds to-day in the list of three hundred and fifty-three Massa- 
chusetts towns and cities to the three hundred and fifty-second, 
with the Indian town of Gay Head at the foot to keep her com- 
pany, while the expenditure of $44.76 per pupil by number one 
in the list would seem to them both unpardonable extravagance. 

The educational advantages of Cambridge are by no means 
exhausted with this meagre account of the public schools. 
There are private schools of many grades, some of them excel- 
lent. There is Radcliffe College for young women. Above all 
there is the famous university, with its great library, its wonder- 
ful museum, its botanical garden, many of its lectures and much 
else that it provides for its students, all freely open or open with 
but moderate limitations to the public. For fifty years with 
scarcely a break Harvard College has been represented on the 
school committee of the city. Of late years it has given free 
courses in certain subjects to the teachers of the city. In the 
Prospect Union, it is repeating its instruction, in a popular 
way, for workingmen and others, thus bringing the college and 
those that choose of the people into a touch helpful and inspiring 
to both. 



208 PRIVATE SCHOOLS IN CAMBRIDGE. 

To these advantages may be added finally that indefinable 
atmosphere which comes from historic and literary associations 
unmatched elsewhere in the western world, the very breath of 
which is an education not to be despised. 

The Newtowne of 1631 ; the Harvard of 1G3G ; the old bury- 
ing ground where lie the early presidents of the college ; the 
holiday routes of the British to Concord and Lexington ; the 
bloody routes of their return ; the elm where Washington took 
command of the army, the mansion where he lived with Lady 
Washington, the little church that both attended ; the site of 
the ramparts thrown up in the siege of Boston ; the winding 
road — old Tory Row — by which the army of Washington 
marched out of Cambridge for New York and by which, not 
long after, the army of Burgoyne from New York marched into 
Cambridge ; Hollis, Stoughton, Holworthy, and the rest, — the 
sometime homes of scores of men subsequently distinguished in 
their respective fields of service ; the site of the gambrel-roofed 
house where Holmes was born ; the stately home of Lowell 
among the pines and near the willows that stirred his muse ; 
and doubly dear, with its memories of Washington as of the 
poet, that of Longfellow, with its vista of the sinuous Charles 
and the marshes beyond ; beautiful Mount Auburn, — the West- 
minster Abbey of New England, where at every turn the names 
of the illustrious dead quicken one's memory of the history they 
shared in making, — these are but a part of the priceless her- 
itage that is ours. 

Does the sense of their value ever become dull ? Let the pil- 
grims that come to us in annually increasing numbers sharpen 
that sense, and nerve us to keep these memorials, so far as their 
keeping may be in our hands, as unique and sacred supplements 
of our educational facilities. 



PRIVATE SCHOOLS IN CAMBRIDGE. 

The high character of the public schools in Cambridge is a 
reason why there have been a small number of private institu- 
tions, though, of course, this very quality in the public schools 
has made it necessary that those private institutions that have 
been established here should be of an unusually high grade of 
excellence. The movement in this direction has, therefore, not 



PROFESSOR AGASSIZ'S SCHOOL. 209 

been so strong as in many other communities, but the reasons 
for it are the same everywhere. " The multiplication of pri- 
vate schools of a high order is not to be accounted for," writes 
Mr. Charles Dudley Warner, " by an undemocratic reluctance 
to submit well-bred children to the associations of the popu- 
lar schools. What is wanted," he continues, " is an institution 
under individual management ; not for mere experiments, but 
for development founded upon experience, and suited to the 
capacities and the positions of the great variety of scholars." It 
may be added that in some instances it is a wish on the part of 
the parent to place the child under school influences that are 
emphatically religious or denominational. In whatever direc- 
tion the training is desired, the parent wishes that it may dis- 
tinctly " raise the ideal of life." Many a one seeks a school of 
smaller size than he can find among those supported by the 
State, in which the course of study can be adapted more partic- 
ularly to the need of each individual pupil. 

PROFESSOR AGASSIZ'S SCHOOL. 

The mind reverts at once, when the subject of private schools 
is mentioned in Cambridge, to that notable one connected with 
the name of the great Agassiz, which was opened in his resi- 
dence in 1855 and closed in 1863, during a portion of those 
years when the professor was stimulating scientific study in 
a way that no other single master has ever stimulated it in 
America. 1 It is interesting to read of the enthusiasm with 
which the great teacher entered upon the labor of this school. 
It was in the winter of 1855, when his physical energy had 
been exhausted by work, in order to add to the scant income 
of his college professorship, that " it occurred to his wife and 
two elder children, now of an age to assist her in such a scheme, 
that a school for young ladies might be established in the upper 
part of the new and larger house " which Harvard College 
had just built for him. " If successful, such a school would 
perhaps make good in a pecuniary sense the lecturing tours 
which were not only a great fatigue to Agassiz, but an inter- 
ruption also to all consecutive scientific work. In consulta- 
tion with friends these plans were partly matured before they 
were confided to Agassiz himself. When the domestic con- 
spirators revealed their plot, his surprise and pleasure knew 

1 See Scientific Cambridge, by Professor Trowbridge, p. 74. — Editor. 



210 PRIVATE SCHOOLS IN CAMBRIDGE. 

no bounds. The first idea had been simply to establish a pri- 
vate school on the usual plan, only referring to his greater 
experience for advice and direction in its general organization. 
But he claimed at once an active share in the work. Under 
his inspiring influence the outline enlarged, and when the cir- 
cular announcing the school was issued, it appeared under his 
name, and contained these words in addition to the programme 
of studies : ' I shall myself superintend the methods of in- 
struction and tuition, and while maintaining that regularity and 
precision so important to mental training, shall endeavor to 
prevent the necessary discipline from falling into a lifeless rou- 
tine, alike deadening to the spirit of teacher and pupil. It is 
further my intention to take the immediate charge of the in- 
struction in Physical Geography, Natural History, and Botany, 
giving a lecture daily, Saturdays excepted, on one or other 
of these subjects, illustrated by specimens, models, maps, and 
drawings.' " 1 

Jules Marcou, in his life of Agassiz, says that " Mrs. Agassiz 
had the whole management of the school ; everything was re- 
ferred to her as director. She took the directorship of Agassiz's 
school in a masterly way, and succeeded admirably. She her- 
self did not teach, but everything regarding the teaching came 
under her supervision. As the fees were high, the school was a 
very select one, and pupils came from different parts of the United 
States, even from as far west as St. Louis. It was considered 
a great privilege to be taught by such a naturalist as Agassiz, 
and all the girls whose parents could afford it were anxious 
to join the school. Of course, the great attraction was Agassiz. 
. . . The girls' parents often came with them, and sat down in 
the schoolroom to listen to the lectures, which were so clear and 
so entertaining that every one followed with the greatest atten- 
tion the subjects brought up by their great teacher, however 
difficult they might be." 2 

Mrs. Agassiz says that Mr. Agassiz " never had an audience 
more responsive than the sixty or seventy girls who gathered 
every day at the close of the morning to hear his daily lecture ; 
nor did he ever give to any audience lectures more carefully 

1 Louis Agassiz, His Life and Correspondence. Edited by Elizabeth Cary 
Agassiz. Boston : Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1886, pp. 525-529. 

2 Life, Letters, and Works of Louis Agassiz, by Jules Marcou. New 
York and London, 1896, ii. pp. 60, 61. 



MR. KENDALL'S SCHOOL. 211 

prepared, more comprehensive in their range of subjects, more 
lofty in their tone of thought. ... It was the simplicity and 
clearness of his method that made them so interesting to his 
young listeners. ' What I wish for you,' he would say, ' is 
culture that is alive, active, susceptible of farther development. 
Do not think that I care to teach you this or the other spe- 
cial science. My instruction is only intended to show you the 
thoughts in nature which science reveals, and the facts 1 give 
you are useful only, or chiefly, for this object.' . . . Agassiz had 
the cooperation not only of his brother-in-law, Professor Felton, 
but of others among his colleagues, who took classes in special 
departments, or gave lectures in history or literature." Among 
these additional instructors was Luigi Monti, the Young Sici- 
lian of Longfellow's " Wayside Inn," 

" In sight of iEtna born and bred," 
who was at the time teaching in Harvard College. 

mr. Kendall's school. 

Mr. Joshua Kendall's Day and Family School to fit young 
men for Harvard College was begun in the fall of 1865, its 
nucleus being some pupils whom Mr. Kendall had taught at his 
own home, and some others whom he had had with Professor 
William P. Atkinson, before that gentleman accepted the pro- 
fessorship of English and history at the Institute of Technology. 

For several years, Mr. Kendall was assisted in his work by 
Mr. John H. Arnold, until that gentleman left to be librarian of 
the Dane Law School. 

Since that time, the school has been carried on by Mr. and 
Mrs. Kendall, assisted from time to time, in special depart- 
ments, especially in laboratory work in physics, by competent 
teachers, easily procured in the vicinity. 

No attempt has been made to establish a large school. The 
aim has always been rather to lead the pupil to get a lasting 
interest in his studies by doing thorough work for himself in 
them, than a superficial interest gained by talking or lecturing. 

As the number of pupils is small, the teaching is done in 
part only by classes, in large part by oversight of each one's 
work or perplexities separately. At whatever point in his pre- 
paration a new pupil is found to be, from that he is pushed far- 
ther on. 



212 PRIVATE SCHOOLS IN CAMBRIDGE. 

Believing that boys intended for a liberal course of study 
should be early initiated into that course, whenever he can the 
principal is glad to have them begin with the elements of 
Latin or French, with algebra and inventional geometry at the 
age of nine or ten years. 

This school has had its measure of success in training boys in 
knowledge and righteousness ; good results have been reached ; 
patrons, have generally, after trial, approved of it. Three pro- 
fessorships in as many of the leading universities in the country 
are now filled by its graduates, while others hold high positions 
of different kinds. This shows that some of them get a right 
start at least on the road to higher learning in this school. 

Mr. Lyman R. Williston opened a school for girls, on Irving 
Street in 1862. It was removed the following year to its present 
situation. It is called " The Berkeley Street School " from its 
location. Mr. Williston conducted the school with success until 
1870, and then transferred it to his brother-in-law, Mr. Justin 
E. Gale, who, in turn, passed it over in 1881 to Miss Margaret 
R. Ingols, who still carries it on. 

THE BROWNE AND NICHOLS SCHOOL. 

In the fall of 1883, at the suggestion of Professor Child, 
Professor Norton, and others interested in the establishment in 
Cambridge of a school for boys which should effectively meet 
the demands of the new education, the Browne and Nichols 
School was founded at No. 11 Appian Way. The principals 
had graduated from Harvard only five years before, and they 
therefore brought to bear upon the problem fresh experience, 
both from the student's and the teacher's point of view. A 
radical change in the traditional course of study was immedi- 
ately adopted : four departments, language, mathematics, sci- 
ence, and history, were organized ; and while a high standard 
was maintained in the classics and mathematics, much more 
time than usual was devoted to modern languages, science, and 
history. 

By keeping the classes small, and thereby adapting the work to 
the individual needs and capacities of pupils, the teachers were 
enabled from the first to give not only excellent preparation 
for the university and the scientific school, but also thorough 
training in branches not required for the entrance examinations. 



THE BROWNE AND NICHOLS SCHOOL. 213 

The success of the school was immediate, and its growth 
rapid. In 1885 more commodious quarters were found at No. 
8 Garden Street. In 1887 the gymnasium was built. In 1889, 
in order to increase the economy of time and effort that their 
peculiar organization had already effected, the principals added 
a preparatory department, and were thereby enabled to lay out 
a continuous course of eight years, almost exclusively under the 
same instructor in each subject, for pupils beginning at the ao-e 
of nine. The wisdom of these principles has been amply justi- 
fied by experience. The teachers have generally been Harvard 
men, and the most interested patrons have been Harvard profes- 
sors. In spite of the distractions of university-town life, this 
community of interest and familiarity on the part of the teach- 
ers with college methods and aims have enabled the school to 
give its graduates a preparation for college, not merely for 
examinations, — a preparation characterized not so much by 
high marks on the entrance examinations as by excellent con- 
tinuous work during the college course, and by high standing 
at the end of it, — as is shown by the uniform record of its 
graduates, and by the voluntary testimony of college patrons, 
who are best qualified to judge. A school that fulfills this func- 
tion is obviously capable of giving an excellent education to 
boys who do not go to college. 

The present school building was built in the summer of 1894, 
under the supervision of the owners from their own plans, and 
is therefore specially adapted to their particular needs. The 
rooms are large and high, finished in natural ash throughout, 
and the walls are tinted a soft buff. The windows were con- 
structed on the principle that it is easier to keep light out when 
it is excessive, than to get it in when it is deficient. The heating 
and ventilating is of the most approved kind, — a gravity sys- 
tem, with indirect radiation. An upward current is established 
by steam coils in large ventilating ducts leading to the roof 
from the level of the floor of each room ; and fresh air from out 
of doors is drawn over single or double steam coils in the base- 
ment up through iron ducts opening into each room through 
large apertures eight feet from the floor. A constant supply 
of over fifty cubic feet per minute of warm fresh air for each 
pupil is thus kept in gentle circulation without draught. The 
heating of the ample halls and the conservatory is reinforced by 
direct radiation. The plumbing, baths, and sanitaries, which 



214 PRIVATE SCHOOLS IN CAMBRIDGE. 

are ventilated into an independent system, are of the best de- 
sign, and, like all the other appointments, have most success- 
fully stood the test of two years' experience. 

The school is pleasantly situated opposite the Common, near 
the Washington Elm, next to Radcliffe College. It attracts 
not only pupils from the neighboring towns, but also families 
from distant parts of the country, who come to Cambridge to 
live during the education of their children. 

THE CAMBKIDGE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS. 

The Cambridge School for Girls, which now occupies the 
building numbered 79 on Brattle Street, was opened in Octo- 
ber, 1886, in the house numbered 20 on Mason Street, formerly 
the home of Professor Peck of Harvard College, and has there- 
fore just completed its tenth year. The number of pupils at 
present is about one hundred, but it was not at first intended 
to include so many. Mrs. Arthur Oilman, whose interest in 
the higher education of women had led her to induce her hus- 
band to make the plan which resulted in Radcliffe College, 
wished to have a small class for the instruction of her own chil- 
dren, and it was only when she found that there were many 
other mothers who wished to send their daughters of various 
ages to the same teachers, that she relinquished the scheme, 
and Mr. Oilman took it up. 

The house on Mason Street was bought for the school, and 
there it remained until three years ago, when the present edifice 
was erected and ready for occupancy. During this period, the 
original building had been constantly enlarged as the numbers 
increased, and when pupils began to come from a distance, a 
residence was erected at No. 21 Chauncy Street, and prepared 
for them. This was named for the wife of the first governor of 
Massachusetts, Margaret Winthrop Hall. When this became 
too limited in accommodation for the demand upon it, the resi- 
dence of Mr. William D. Howells was obtained, and opened 
for the same purpose. By this plan the school remains a day 
school, and the residences are real homes. 

It has been a part of Mr. Gilman's plan to have no instructor 
living in the residences, so that the pupils and teachers are sep- 
arate, and come fresh together at the beginning of the school- 
day. The heads of the residences are chosen for their ability 
in forming a home, and in giving to young women that cultiva- 



THE CAMBRIDGE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS. 215 

tion which is not to be learned from books. The plan is an 
expensive one to carry out, but Mr. Gilman's faith that it is 
the best for the young* woman gave him great confidence in it, 
and experience in carrying it on has shown its advantages. 

A visitor from New York writes of The Cambridge School as 
follows : — 

" There has always been a special inspiration in the air of 
Cambridge, and in the impress which has been made upon the 
town by many of its citizens. In the living present there is no 
lack of the same spirit. To be the home of Harvard University 
should be honor enough, but more falls to the lot of Cambridge, 
and in no small measure to the school about which we write. 
Nor is this an exaggerated statement when we consider the 
importance of the proper education of our girls, and the unique 
characteristics of this particular school. To give to girls and 
young women thorough and well-ordered instruction is the aim 
of The Cambridge School. Individual need is the gauge, that 
each pupil may receive the training best calculated for a well 
rounded development of talents and general character. . . . 

" The Cambridge School occupies three buildings in the best 
part of Old Cambridge. Two of these are residences for young 
ladies who come from a distance ; the third is the school build- 
ing proper. Here are the class-rooms, study-rooms, dressing- 
rooms, book-room, laboratories, and office. All these are ar- 
ranged in the best possible manner to serve the object in view, 
namely, teaching. The residences are entirely separate from, 
although near to, the school building itself, and they are ar- 
ranged for their own peculiar use. In this arrangement lies 
the special and distinctive feature which Mr. Arthur Gilman, 
the director of The Cambridge School, emphasizes most partic- 
ularly. The teachers are supreme in their own departments 
under the director, wdio is not a teacher himself. Out of the 
schoolroom the girls are under the charge of four experienced 
ladies, two in each residence. Their duty is to ' make a home ' 
for the pupils, and they study how to bring this about with as 
much pains as do the teachers their own part. Thus the social 
and home life of the students as well as their actual school life 
is developed at the same time in all legitimate ways. Such a 
plan approaches as nearly as possible to the ideal. Of course, 
the teachers and the house-mothers, as we may not inaptly call 
the ladies in charge of the residences, have frequent opportu- 



216 PRIVATE SCHOOLS IN CAMBRIDGE. 

nity for conference and consultation regarding the interests of 
the pupils, and they work together in perfect harmony toward 
the one great end. . . . 

" Too much emphasis cannot be put upon the all-important 
feature of home life. Pupils go to school primarily, of course, 
to study, but even learning may be bought at too costly a price. 
The curriculum at The Cambridge School embraces all that is 
needed either to fit a young lady to enter college, if she is des- 
tined so to do, or to send her home the possessor of a finished 
education. It should be borne in mind that The Cambridge 
School is not simply a preparatory school, but one where 
scholars of any age can find all they need without looking for- 
ward to a future educational course. The home and social 
training go on hand in hand with the school life. The ladies 
in charge of the residences do not teach. They do watch over 
the girls in their care. Being ladies of high social position, 
the pupils have all the advantages afforded by Cambridge and 
Boston. These ladies are responsible for the out-of-school con- 
duct of the girls, but they do not bind them by irksome rules. 
They care for each resident pupil as an individual. The char- 
acter of each is made a special study, and suggestion and help 
are always forthcoming. High ideas of womanliness are con- 
stantly held before the pupil, and the cultivation of the social 
graces and courtesies of family life is ever insisted upon. With 
all this, however, the greatest possible liberty consistent with 
strict propriety is allowed. 

"The course of study is thorough and comprehensive. In 
addition to this the advantages of situation are as rare as they 
are notable. The neighborhood of Harvard with its atmos- 
phere of learning and its literary influence must act as a stim- 
ulus to any student. Longfellow, whose house at Cambridge 
stands near the school, most truly said : — 

" ' Lives of great men all remind, us 

We may make our lives sublime.' " 

" Cambridge has been the home of many great men in the 
realms of literature and art. Here during the college terms, 
and indeed throughout the year, are gathered men who are 
facile princcps in their own peculiar fields of work. The patri- 
otic spirit is stirred by the daily sight of the Washington Elm, 
under which Washington is said to have drawn his sword when 
he took command of the American army. Upon this favored 



MISS SMITH'S SCHOOL. 217 

town have descended in especial force inspiring influences from 
the patriot Washington, the gentle and sweet-spirited Long- 
fellow, the genial Holmes, and the broad-minded Lowell. Thus 
an atmosphere is created which is calculated to sustain the stu- 
dious spirit." 

FITTING SCHOOL FOR BOYS AND GIRLS. 

In 1879, Miss K. V. Smith was encouraged by Ezra Abbot, 
John Fiske, Charles Eliot Norton, and Francis J. Child to open 
a private school for boys and girls at 16 Ash Street. It was 
removed the next year to 5 Phillips Place, and again changed 
to 54 Garden Street, and in 1887 to its present high and sunny 
locality at 13 Buckingham Street. 

The school aimed to give an education broader than usual, 
by methods tending toward intellectual independence, anticipa- 
ting thereby a large number of the suggestions of the recent 
educational committees and conferences. 

The daily session is short, and only for recitations, responsi- 
bility for study hours at home being a part of the disciplinary 
value of the school. In place of any systematic marking in 
lessons or in conduct, the school has been controlled by a spirit 
of honor and an enthusiastic interest in work, — the legacy of 
the first class. The class-rooms have been opened freely to the 
parents and to friends of education. These educational de- 
partures won from the first the support and sympathy of the 
best patronage. 

This school was the first private co-educational institution for 
college preparation in Cambridge. 

Besides the private schools mentioned, there are several 
others. Miss Jeannette Markham has one for girls on Buck- 
ingham Place, and Miss Elizabeth Manson established a kin- 
dergarten in October, 1887, which at present occupies the house 
No. 46 Concord Avenue, near the Harvard Observatory. It 
will be apparent that Cambridge is well furnished both with 
public and private schools of a high character. 



CAMBRIDGE JOURNALISM. 

By F. STANHOPE HILL, 

EDITOR OF " THE CAMBRIDGE TRIBUNE." 

So far as this writer has been able to discover, the first news- 
paper printed in Cambridge was the " New England Chronicle 
and Essex Gazette," published by Samuel and Ebenezer Hall 
from a chamber in Stoughton Hall, assigned to them by the 
Provincial Congress in May, 1775. 

" From this press," says a contemporary, " issued streams of 
intelligence and those patriotic songs and tracts which so pre- 
eminently animated the defenders of American liberty." But 
when the American army removed from Cambridge a year later 
the " Chronicle and Gazette " seems to have suspended publi- 
cation. It is very evident there was no newspaper in this town 
in July, 1786, for when a letter to the selectmen of Cambridge 
requesting their concurrence in a county convention, to be held 
in Concord on August 23, in order to consult " upon matters 
of public grievances and find out means of redress," with 
its answer, was ordered to be printed by our selectmen, it ap- 
peared, July 27, 1786, in the "Boston Independent Chronicle." 
There is a bare possibility, however, from the similarity of 
name, that our Cambridge " Chronicle and Gazette " had been 
moved into Boston as a broader field for journalistic enterprise. 

Be that as it may, it is a somewhat singular fact that Cam- 
bridge, where the first pi-inting-press erected in New England 
was set up by Stephen Daye in 1639, should have arrived at 
the mature age of two hundred and sixteen years before she 
awoke to the necessity of maintaining a local newspaper. 

To the modern journalist who is familiar with the number- 
less interesting and dramatic episodes that are associated with 
the early history of Cambridge, the fact that we should have 
had no local newspaper to record these events propeily seems 
an appalling waste of opportunity. 



JOSEPH T. BUCKINGHAM. 219 

Why, for instance, should it have been left to the " Boston 
News Letter " of September 19, 1754, to describe the excit- 
ing " chase of a Bear " from Lieutenant-Governor Phips' farm 
in Cambridge down to the Charles River, and his subsequent 
capture ; or that far more exciting scene in September, 1774, 
when the British troops from Boston carried off the powder 
from the Somerville powder-house. And fancy the wealth of 
display headlines which a Cambridge newspaper would have 
deemed necessary to set forth properly the story of that event- 
ful visit of " about four thousand people " to Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor Thomas Oliver's mansion on Tory Row, which resulted 
in his resignation and subsequent flight into Boston. 

Quiet country towns like Greenfield, Worcester, Salem, 
Newburyport, and Portsmouth, where life moved on in an end- 
less monotony of pastoral simplicity, all had excellent weekly 
newspapers, founded a century or more ago. Yet Cambridge, 
a university town of vastly more importance and with far 
greater facilities for producing a newspaper than any of these 
places, had no home paper until 1846. 

This is the more remarkable in that for years she had counted 
among her highly respected citizens a number of well-known 
journalists who rode into Boston each morning in the hourlies 
to aid in making the daily papers of our neighboring city, and 
rode out again in the evening to take their well-earned repose 
at their homes hard by the banks of the placid Charles. 

Among these were Joseph Tinker Buckingham (ne Tinker), 1 
who commenced his career in 1795 at the age of sixteen as a 
printer in the office of the " Greenfield Gazette." In 1800 he 
came to Boston, and after some journalistic experience, which 
was not successful, in that city, he removed to Cambridge. 
Later he built a house on Quincy Street where Mrs. James 

1 The father of Mr. Bucking-ham was Nehemiah Tinker, hut the son took his 
mother's name by permission of the Massachusetts legislature, in 1806. He has 
been immortalized by Mr. Lowell, in the first series of the Biglow Papers, 
which was published in the Courier, in 1846-1848, when Mr. Buckingham was 
its editor. ' ' his Folks gin the letter to me and i shew it to parson Wilbur and he 
ses it oughter Bee printed, send it to mister Buckinum, ses he, i don't allers 
agree with him, ses he, but by Time, ses he, I du like a feller that ain't a 
Feared." 

It was in the New England Magazine, then under the editorial care of Mr. 
Buckingham, that Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes published his first "Autocrat of 
the Breakfast-Table " paper, mentioned many years afterwards in the first num- 
ber of The Atlantic Monthly. — Editor. 



220 CAMBRIDGE JOURNALISM. 

Fiske's house now stands and lived there many years, but after- 
ward moved to what is now called Buckingham Street, where 
he died. 

Another famous Cambridge editor was Theophilus Parsons, 
Dane Professor of Law at Harvard, but also founder and editor 
of the " United States Free Press,*' and for several years en- 
gaged in literary pursuits. 

William Lloyd Garrison, of " The Liberator," lived in Cam- 
bridge, on the northwest corner of Broadway and Elm Street, 
from 1839 to 1843, and did some right good editorial work 
during that period. John Gorham Palfrey was one of the ed- 
itors of the " Boston Daily Whig," the precursor of the Free 
Soil press, about 1846, and was one of the editors of " The 
Commonwealth." Eobert Carter, who was also one of the 
early editors of " The Commonwealth," had previously aided 
James Russell Lowell in editing " The Pioneer," a short-lived 
magazine. And Lowell himself in 1848 was " corresponding 
editor " of the " Anti-Slavery Standard," editorial correspond- 
ent of the " London Daily News," and later, in 1863, was 
joint editor, with Professor Charles Eliot Norton, of the 
" North American Review." 

Another of the " Abolition editors " was Rev. J. S. Lovejoy 
of Cambridgeport, of " The Emancipator ; " while Rev. Thomas 
Whittemore of this town was editor of " The Universalist 
Magazine " and of " The Trumpet." But the list of Cam- 
bridge men who have been prominently known as journalists 
and editors and writers for magazines strings out to a porten- 
tous length. Among many others there are Francis Elling- 
wood Abbott, Rev. Edward Abbott, Professor Charles F. Dun- 
bar, Mr. Joseph Henry Allen, Francis Foxcroft, Professors 
Francis Bowen, Charles Eliot Norton, and Andrews Norton, 
Rev. William Ware, William Brewster, William D. Howells, 
Samuel H. Scudder, Horace E. Scudder, and Thomas Went- 
worth Higginson, who so gracefully links the younger and older 
generation of Cambridge writers. 

Yet with all this roll of Cambridge men famous in this sphere 
of work it remained for an obscure stranger to make the first 
venture in local journalism in our city. From 1842 until 1845 
the residents of Old Cambridge were earnestly striving, both 
in town meeting and in the legislature, to be set off from the 
Port and East Cambridge as a separate town under the name 



THE CAMBRIDGE CHRONICLE. 221 

of Cambridge. But these local dissensions were temporarily 
healed by the " Act to establish the City of Cambridge," ap- 
proved March 17, 1846. While the excitement attendant upon 
the adoption of this measure was rife, Mr. Andrew Reid, a 
Scotchman, who had served an apprenticeship as a printer in 
his native country and had come to Boston from Halifax and 
engaged in the printing business, decided to venture the publi- 
cation of a weekly newspaper in Cambridge. 

The first number of this sheet, which he called " The Cam- 
bridge Chronicle," appeared on Thursday, May 17, 1846, issued 
from an office over the grocery store of the late Joseph A. 
Holmes on the corner of Main and Magazine streets. The 
initial number contained a full account of the inauguration 
of the new city government on the previous Monday, May 7, 
with Mayor Green's speech in full occupying four and a half 
columns. The paper was successful, in a moderate degree, 
from the first, but Mr. Reid was in poor health and died Jan- 
uary 4, 1847, and the " Chronicle " passed into the possession 
of Mr. John Ford, in February of that year. In January, 1855, 
the office was removed to the corner of Main and Temple 
streets, and in 1858 Mr. George Fisher purchased the " Chron- 
icle " and conducted it until 1873, when he sold the property 
to Mr. Linn Boyd Porter, under whose charge it remained 
until 1886, when it was purchased by Mr. F. Stanhope Hill. 
Four years later, in 1890, Mr. Hill bought the " Tribune " 
and sold the " Chronicle " to Mr. F. H. Buffuni, but the prop- 
erty returned to Mr. Hill in 1891, and he then sold it to the 
present proprietors, J. W. Bean and C. B. Seagrave, who have 
since added a job printing establishment to the plant and made 
it a prosperous business enterprise at 753 Main Street. 

In April, 1866, Mr. James Cox, a practical printer in Boston, 
established the " Cambridge Press," at first as an independent 
paper, although the publisher was then identified with the Dem- 
ocratic party. But in 1872, when General Grant was nom- 
inated for a second term, the " Press " fell into the Republican 
ranks, where it has since remained and seems likely to stay 
while the present editor is in control of its affairs. 

The " Press " has always given close attention to municipal 
affairs, and was the first Cambridge paper to advocate the no- 
license policy. Mr. Cox, who established the paper just thirty 
years ago, is still in possession, although he has passed full 



222 CAMBRIDGE JOURNALISM. 

threescore and ten years of an honorable and respected life, and 
is the Nestor of Cambridge journalism. 

" The Cambridge Tribune " was founded in 1878 by Mr. D. 
Gilbert Dexter, the first issue appearing on March 7 of that 
year. Our local papers, the " Chronicle " and " Press," were 
both published at Cambridgeport. The " Tribune " was the first 
newspaper especially identified with Old Cambridge, and it has 
continued to occupy its chosen field without competition, prov- 
ing both the wise judgment displayed in selecting its home, and 
also that it has satisfactorily filled the field. 

At first, the " Tribune " was printed at the University Press, 
although its type was set at its office, 19 Brattle Square ; but 
later it was removed to No. 3 Linden Street, opposite the col- 
lege library, where it is still published. In 1885, Mr. Dexter's 
health failing, he sold the " Tribune " to Mr. William B. How- 
land, who, after conducting it with very great success for five 
years, was induced to go to New York as business manager 
of the " Christian Union " (now " The Outlook "), and he sold 
the property to Mr. F. Stanhope Hill, who has since carried 
the " Tribune " on upon the same general lines that have 
marked its course from the first number, giving it a literary 
tone, and avoiding sensationalism. 

Among the contributors to the " Tribune " during the past 
eighteen years are numbered the poets Longfellow, Lowell, and 
Holmes, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, William Winter, Rev. 
Drs. A. P. Peabody, Alexander McKenzie, and Edward Ab- 
bott, Rt. Rev. William Lawrence, D. D., Andrew MacFarland 
Davis, Professors Charles Eliot Norton, William James, and 
Albert B. Hart, Arthur Gilman, Caroline P. Orne, Charlotte 
Fiske Bates, and scores of others almost as well known. 

" The Cambridge News " was established by Mr. Daniel A. 
Buckley in the year 1880. This gentleman has a peculiar indi- 
viduality and strong convictions, and his paper is mainly the 
exponent of his personal opinions of public men and their con- 
duct of municipal affairs, which he does not hesitate to advance 
and maintain in forcible language. By that chance which is 
often the fate of would-be reformers, the editor of the " News " 
is not infrequently in a popular minority, but the honesty of his 
convictions has never been impugned, and those who differ from 
his views the most radically listen to his remarks on public oc- 
casions with interest, and not seldom with amusement. 



COLLEGE JOURNALISM. 223 

The college publications include the " Crimson," a bright 
and very prosperous little daily, eagerly sought for by the students 
each morning, and an acknowledged authority on all undergrad- 
uate matters; the "Lampoon," the " Advocate," and "The Har- 
vard Graduates' Magazine." 

" The Sacred Heart Review " is a Roman Catholic religious 
weekly published by the Rev. John O'Brien, which has a very 
large circulation throughout the State. 

The Cambridge newspapers have used their columns mainly 
for the discussion of domestic matters. The churches, the uni- 
versity, the schools, the proceedings of the City Council, and 
the development of local industries, have engaged their atten- 
tion rather than the consideration of larger national affairs. 
Three of the four are classed as independent in national politics, 
but the " Press " is, as has been said, Republican. On the 
questions of no-license and non-partisan municipal government, 
the four papers are as a unit in their hearty support of both 
policies. That they have been right in their general course, 
and that they fill with a reasonable measure of success a want 
in the community, is shown by the generous support they have 
received from our citizens. 



THE CAMBRIDGE MANUAL TRAINING 
SCHOOL FOR BOYS. 

By CHARLES H. MORSE, 

THE SUPERINTENDENT. 

On November 12, 1887, at a special meeting of the City 
Council, Mayor Russell read a communication from Mr. Fred- 
erick H. Rindge, a former resident of Cambridge, part of which 
was as follows : — 

Hon. William E. Russell : — 

Dear Sir, — It would make me happy to give the City of Cam- 
bridge, provided no considerable misfortune happens to my prop- 
erty within two years from date, three gifts, which are described 
herein. 

Third, an Industrial School Building, ready for use, together with 
a site for the same in the immediate neighborhood of the Public 
Library Common, provided the following inscription, in metal or stone 
letters, be placed on the outside of said building and over its main 
entrance door: "Work is one of our greatest blessings; every one 
should have an honest occupation." I wish the plain arts of industry 
to be taught in this school. I wish the school to be especially for boys 
of average talents, who may in it learn how their hands and arms can 
earn food, clothing, and shelter for themselves ; how, after a wbile, 
they can support a family and a home ; and how the price of these 
blessings is faithful industry, no bad habits, and wise economy, — 
which price, by the way, is not dear. I wish also that in it they may 
become accustomed to being under authority, and be now and then 
instructed in the laws that govern health and nobility of character. I 
urge that admittance to said school be given only to strong boys, who 
will grow up to be able working men. Strict obedience to such a rule 
would make parents careful in the training of their young, as they 
know that their boys would be deprived of the benefits of said school 
unless they were able-bodied. I think the Industrial School would 
thus graduate many young men who would prove themselves useful 
citizens. 





Manual Training School, Interiors. 



REPUTATION OF THE SCHOOL. 225 

I ask you to present this communication to the City Government of 
Cambridge and notify me of its action in relation to it. Should the 
gifts, with their conditions, be accepted, I hope to proceed at once 

with the work. 

Respectfully yours, 

Frederick H. Rindge. 

The City Council accepted this offer, and Mr. Rindge com- 
menced at once the construction of a suitable building, upon 
the completion of which the school was opened, in September, 
1888. 

From its inception it has been under the watchful eyes of its 
founder and supporter, who has written scores of letters to its 
superintendents, giving them valuable suggestions and words of 
encouragement. The conservative management of its super- 
vising committee has also in no small degree beeii an incentive 
to the superintendent and the corps of able instructors. Its 
growth has been rapid, strong, and healthy, and with such man- 
agement the successful maintenance of the school is assured. 
The present members of this committee are Hon. William E. 
Russell, Col. T. W. Higginson, Hon. Samuel L. Montague, 
Mr. Andrew McF. Davis, Mr. E. B. Hale, and Mr. Robert 
Cowen. 

The school has gained an almost national reputation for its 
eminently practical, progressive, and unique features. During 
the eight years of its existence it has grown from a mere educa- 
tional experiment to an indispensable factor in the school sys- 
tem, and its methods have been copied by cities throughout the 
country, wherever an effort is made to keep abreast with mod- 
ern educational principles. 

No one who has observed the trend of industrial and social 
progress doubts that the prevailing forms of education are inad- 
equate to the needs of many boys. The founder of the Cam- 
bridge Manual Training School has provided the means of test- 
ing, under most favorable circumstances, the educational value 
of training based upon the mechanic arts. Every improvement 
in equipment and in methods of instruction suggested by nearly 
eight years' experience has been made, and the school is now 
fully prepared to do the work for which it was established. In 
order to provide for the future needs of the youth of Cambridge, 
for whose benefit the school was primarily established, it has 
been equipped on a scale of liberality which makes it, for the 



226 THE CAMBRIDGE MANUAL TRAINING SCHOOL. 

present, possible to accommodate a considerable number of non- 
resident pupils. The loyalty of its students, and the favorable 
impression already made by its graduates, are encouraging evi- 
dences of its success. 

The training that the boys receive is broad, and, above all, 
practical, — a training calculated to make good workmen, good 
citizens, and good men. Its scope covers all branches of the 
mechanic arts, including carpentry and joinery, blacksmithing, 
wood-turning, and pattern-making, iron - fitting, machine-shop 
practice, and mechanical drawing. 

No claim is made, however, that the school teaches a trade. 
Did it do so, it would not be an educational institution of the 
high order which it is in the minds of educators. In no sense 
is it a trade school, but rather a school in which the whole man 
is educated, the hand and the mind, and the mind more broadly 
than would be possible without the education of the hand. The 
training given emphasizes strongly the academic side of the 
work, and strives to make that work more interesting and effect- 
ive by bringing it into intimate relation with practical appli- 
cations. The school is peculiarly adapted to the needs of boys 
who have little aptitude for abstract study, but who wish to pre- 
pare themselves for employment in which mechanical skill and 
an intelligent appreciation of the principles which underlie the 
processes employed are essentials of success. 

It is confidently believed, too, that the school offers unsur- 
passed advantages to boys who desire to prepare for the Law- 
rence Scientific School, the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- 
nology, or any similar institution. The manual dexterity and 
the thorough knowledge of tools, machinery, and mechanical 
processes acquired in the shops, at an age when time can be 
most easily spared for such training, is of great value in any 
scientific pursuit. 

But the branches of manual and mental science taught do 
not compose the whole of a boy's education. The thoughtful 
man questions methods used, habits inculcated, and standards 
adopted. Here, too, we have only to look to the boys for an 
answer. Their gentlemanly manner, self-control, industry, and 
personal neatness, all testify to the wholesome and stimulating 
influences which only the discipline and direction of courteous, 
methodical, and skillful instructors can produce. 

Besides the reputation which its educational prestige has 



FIRE DRILL. 227 

given it, our school has developed features which are calculated 
to attract popular interest and support. The most interesting 
of these is the unique fire drill, an application of the methods 
of extinguishing and preventing fire, ingeniously fitted to the 
uses of a school drill. The boys, during drill times, hold them- 
selves ready for an alarm, which may come when they least ex- 
pect it, just as it would happen in ordinary practice. They lay 
lines of hose, raise ladders, and use life-saving apparatus with 
skill and speed. Discipline is maintained by frequent military 
drills, which also afford practice in the management and hand- 
ling of bodies of men. In connection with these exercises a series 
of lectures is given ,by an experienced physician on " First Aid 
to the Injured." About four hours per week are devoted to the 
drill during the first year, three hours during the second year, 
and two hours during the third and fourth years. A part of 
this time is taken from that assigned to shop work, but some- 
what more than half of it is required in addition to the regular 
school hours. Presence of mind in emergencies is a marked 
result of fire drill, as well as the development of the finer quali- 
ties of respect to superiors, obedience, courage, and tact in man- 
aging others. 

This article would not be complete without a word about the 
band, which has been so many times introduced to Cambridge 
audiences, and has given pleasure as well to thousands of peo- 
ple in other cities, always contributing its share towards good 
government and no license, and aiding in many charitable un- 
dertakings. 

The Glee Club, composed of twenty-five bright boys, has been 
enthusiastically received by many audiences, and without doubt 
will become as popular as the band now is. 

The city is under great obligations to Mr. Bindge for build- 
ing, equipping, and maintaining this school, for it is develop- 
ing in our community the material for skillful artisans and 
engineers, who are destined to exert great influence upon the 
questions constantly arising between capital and labor, and 
it is believed that the influence of the intelligent graduates of 
such schools will do much to solve the so-called labor problem. 
Cambridge is to be congratulated upon having one of the best- 
equipped manual training schools in the country. 



THE PUBLIC LIBRARY. 

By WILLIAM J. ROLFE, Litt. D. 

The Public Library had its origin in the Cambridge Athe- 
naeum, which was incorporated in 1849 for the purpose of estab- 
lishing " a lyceum, library, reading-room," etc. The beginning 
of the library was made in 1855, when Mr. James Brown, of 
Watertown, bequeathed one thousand dollars to the institution, 
to be used in the purchase of books ; but it was not until No- 
vember, 1857, that the library was opened to the public. 

The next year (1858) the Athenamm sold its building (after- 
wards used as a city hall) to the city, which obligated itself to 
contribute at least three hundred dollars a year, for fifty years, 
to the support of the library, and to maintain it forever " for 
the benefit of the inhabitants of Cambridge." It now received 
the name of the Dana Library, in honor of Mr. Edmund T. 
Dana, who had given the land for the site of the Athenaeum 
building. Later Mr. Dana, by a codicil to his will, left fifteen 
thousand dollars "for the increase and support of the library;" 
but the city lost this becmest through legal' objections to the 
form in which it was expressed. 

In 1874 the library, for the use of which a fee of one dollar 
a year had been charged, was made free to the public ; and in 
1879 the name was changed to the Cambridge Public Library. 

In 1875 the library contained seven thousand volumes ; in 
1885 it had increased to eighteen thousand; and in 1895 to 
about fifty thousand. 

In 1887, when the need of enlarged accommodations had be- 
come urgent, Mr. Frederick H. Rindge generously offered to 
give the city a large tract of land on Broadway, and to erect 
thereon a public library building. The offer was gratefully 
accepted, and the building was completed in June, 1889. It 
contained a book-room, or " stack," capable of holding eighty- 
five thousand volumes, a reading-room measuring sixty by 



THE CHILDREN'S ROOM. 229 

twenty feet, a delivery-room, and a suite of rooms for the pres- 
ervation of the works of Cambridge authors and artists and 
other memorials of the history of the city. In 1894 a new wing 
was added, which provides a reading-room for children, a cata- 
logue-room and librarian's room, and on the second floor a trus- 
tees' room and a large room which is to be used as a reference 
library of American history. 

In the general reading-room there is a selection of about 
twenty-five hundred volumes of cyclopaedias, dictionaries, and 
other books of reference, which can be consulted without for- 
mality by all readers. There are also about a hundred and 
thirty periodicals, including the leading reviews and magazines, 
American and foreign, with a select list of newspapers. 

The children's room is liberally furnished with juvenile peri- 
odicals and books. Scrap-books of pictures are provided for 
little ones who are not yet able to read. This room, which 
accommodates fifty readers, is always full in the latter part of 
the afternoon and all day on Saturdays. 

For the convenience of readers at a distance from the library, 
seven local deliveries have been established, where books can 
be received and returned three times a week. At the Cam- 
bridgeport station, in the Prospect Union building, a small 
branch library has been formed. At present about twenty- 
five thousand volumes are annually circulated through these 
stations. 

Another feature of the library system is the school delivery. 
Teachers in the high and grammar schools are allowed to take 
ten books each per week, to be used at their discretion among 
their pupils. The books are carried to and from the schools in 
baskets. In 1895 the number of volumes thus circulated was 
6572. 

This, however, does not represent fully the use made of the 
library by the schools. Many of the teachers use their personal 
cards to draw books helpful in their work ; and hundreds of the 
older pupils have cards of their own. The English High School 
is too near the library to need the delivery, and it has its own 
library of several thousand volumes. Several of the other 
schools have small libraries that partially supply their wants. 
The children's reading-room is also an important means of fur- 
nishing good reading for the younger school-children. 

The juvenile appetite for this intellectual food rapidly grows 



230 THE PUBLIC LIBRARY. 

with what it feeds upon. The demands upon the school delivery, 
according to the latest (1895) report of the librarian, show " a 
large increase." At present, indeed, they exceed the available 
supply. The report adds : " The greatest need of the library, 
so far as the schools are concerned, is for more copies of certain 
books very generally used. From similar grades throughout 
the city, requests are frequently received for long lists of books 
on the same subject, and these demands cannot always be satis- 
factorily met at one time." How they may be met is a problem 
which the trustees are endeavoring to solve. They regard the 
library as an integral part of our educational system, and will 
spare no efforts to bring it into more intimate and sympathetic 
relations with the schools. They believe that it will tend to lead 
teacher and pupil outside the narrow range of mere text-book 
instruction, to which they are apt to confine themselves, and thus 
to broaden their field of view, to enlarge their ideas, and encour- 
age independent thought and research, and at the same time to 
cultivate a taste for good literature. 

The total yearly circulation, since the opening of the new 
building in 1889, has increased from about eighty thousand to 
nearly one hundred and forty thousand volumes. This does not 
include the use of the reference library in the reading-room, of 
which no record is kept. 

Since March, 1893, the library has been open for readers on 
Sunday from two to six o'clock in the afternoon. The number 
of visitors during the first seven months of the experiment (the 
only period for which I find statistics) was 1754, of whom G87 
were under fourteen years of age. 

Since January, 1896, a monthly Bulletin has been issued for 
gratuitous circulation, in which classified lists of additions to the 
library are given, with brief descriptive and critical notes upon 
the more important books. Special reading - lists and other 
matter likely to be useful to students and readers, especially 
the young, will be added from time to time. 

The " Cambridge Memorial Room " is already a considerable 
library in itself, and is fast growing in value and attractiveness. 
Three years ago, more than a hundred and fifty native or resi- 
dent authors were represented on its shelves. The complete 
works of many of these are in the collection, including not a 
few rare first editions. Some of the books are enriched with 
autographs or manuscript notes by author or editor. 



THE MEMORIAL ROOM. 231 

Of seventy-nine volumes relating to Henry W. Longfellow, 
seventy are his own works, three are selections therefrom, and 
six are biographical. James Russell Lowell is represented by 
thirty volumes. Among these is an interleaved copy of Wor- 
cester's Dictionary, with his name and the date, November 24, 
1847, and many manuscript notes from his pen. Oliver Wen- 
dell Holmes has eighteen volumes, including his first collection 
of poems published anonymously. 

Among the manuscript rarefies are two portfolios of Margaret 
Fuller's letters and writings, deposited by Col. T. W. Higginson ; 
the " Letters given by the English Longfellow Memorial to the 
Longfellow Memorial Association of Cambridge," with the auto- 
graphs of eminent Englishmen interested in obtaining the bust 
of the poet for Westminster Abbey ; and the " Cambridge Light 
Infantry Orderly Book " of 1815, contributed by Mr. Lucius 
R. Paige. There are also important manuscripts by Edward 
Everett, James Russell Lowell, and other authors. 

This room is also coming to be a museum of souvenirs and 
relics connected with local history, some of which are of much 
antiquarian or artistic interest. A large glass case has recently 
been added for the old regimental flag presented to the library 
by the 38th regiment of the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, 
to whom it was given by Cambridge women in January, 1864. 

Aside from the contributions to the Memorial Room, the 
library has had many valuable gifts in money and books from 
Cambridge people. In 1873 it received a thousand dollars by 
the will of Mr. Isaac Fay, and in 1889 two thousand dollars by 
that of Mr. Daniel P. Cummings. In 1889 also a fund of about 
nine thousand dollars for its increase was raised by a citizens' 
subscription. Among the more important gifts of books may 
be mentioned about five hundred volumes, chiefly historical, 
from Mr. Denman W. Ross ; more than two thousand volumes 
(with a collection of paintings, engravings, photographs, medals, 
coins, etc.) from the estate of Mrs. Anna L. Moering ; the rare 
and valuable medical library of Dr. Morrill Wyman, comprising 
more than four thousand volumes ; about five hundred volumes 
from the estate of Prof. E. W. Gurney ; and one hundred and 
seventy-seven volumes from the medical library of Dr. C. E. 
Vaughan. Lists of these and other donations are given in the 
annual reports of the trustees. 

This imperfect sketch of the history and work of the library 



232 THE PUBLIC LIBRARY. 

must not close without a brief tribute to the memory of Miss 
Almira L. Hayward, who was its librarian for twenty years 
(from 1874 to 1894) ; and for this I cannot do better than to 
quote a few sentences from the minute entered by the trustees 
on their records, to express their grateful appreciation of her ser- 
vices : " She was in many respects a remarkable woman. Her 
conscientious self-devotion was without limit, and long expe- 
rience had developed in her the very highest qualities of a 
librarian : knowledge of books, organizing power, and a ready 
sympathy with students. More remarkable than these traits, 
perhaps, was the promptness with which she adapted herself to 
the great enlargement of the library and that transformation of 
its methods which accompanied its removal to a new building. 
. . . The plan of an addition to the building, with special ref- 
erence to the needs of the children, was largely hers ; she was 
spared to see its completion, and met her death while placiug 
the new rooms in order. She died literally in harness, as she 
always wished to die ; and her name will be forever associated 
with the most important formative period of her beloved in- 
stitution." 

After Miss Hayward's death the care of the library devolved 
for several months upon the first assistant, Miss Etta L. Rus- 
sell, who proved herself altogether competent for it, but declined 
to be a candidate for the librarianship. Mr. W. R. L. Gifford, 
of the New Bedford Public Library, was elected to the vacancy, 
and entered upon his duties in March, 1895. The results of 
his first year's service indicate that this was a happy choice. 

The past history of the library is a chapter in her annals of 
which Cambridge may honestly be proud, and the future is 
full of promise. 



THE PROTESTANT CHURCHES OF CAMBRIDGE. 

By REV. ALEXANDER McKENZIE, D. D. 

Whoever writes the early history of Cambridge must write 
of the first churches which were here, and the continuance 
of the history must include the churches, which have had a 
goodly part in making the town and the city. The founders of 
the town were men of the church. The first settlers in these 
parts had come from a land where the church and the state were 
closely united, and they intended to keep their places in both 
while they found homes in this new world. They were loyal to 
the institutions under which they had been born. Their thought 
proved impracticable. The first churches in Massachusetts Bay 
soon severed their connection with the English Church, as the 
men of Plymouth had done before they left England. After- 
wards, the colonies declared themselves independent of the 
government also. The original plan, to make the town here the 
metropolis of the province, was abandoned. Still, the settle- 
ment was highly respectable. It was one of the best towns in 
New England, and it is reported that most of the inhabitants 
were very rich. In England, many of them had been under 
the ministry of Rev. Thomas Hooker, who was driven from 
them ; whereupon, they sought a new home across the sea, which 
they trusted he would share with them. They began to make 
their settlement at Mount Wollaston, and the Court ordered 
them to come to the New Town. In 1632 a meeting-house 
was built, and in 1633 Mr. Hooker and Rev. Samuel Stone were 
made the ministers of the new church. This was the eighth 
church in the Massachusetts Colony. But in 1636 the minis- 
ters and most of the church and congregation left New Town 
for Connecticut. Some families, eleven or more, remained here. 
Fortunately for them, another company of about sixty persons 
had come from England, having Thomas Shepard as their 
leader. On a mural tablet in the church which bears his name 



234 THE PROTESTANT CHURCHES OF CAMBRIDGE. 

it is recorded, as it is in Shepard's autobiography, that " Some 
went before, and writ to me of providing a place for a company 
of us, one of which was John Bridge." John Bridge was one of 
those who stayed behind. His statue now stands on the Cam- 
bridge Common. A part of the original church thus entered 
into the new church, which was formed in February, 1636. 
Thomas Shepard was installed as the minister. It was a notable 
gathering of the chief men of the colony when the church was 
organized, and it was a notable event. It was a Congregational 
church, and in this reconstructed form was the eleventh in 
Massachusetts. The form of the covenant has not been pre- 
served, but probably it was like the one used in Charlestown 
and Boston, wherein the members promised to walk " in mutual 
love and respect each to other, so near as God shall give us 
grace." That was certainly a very good beginning, and in its 
seriousness and simplicity was quite in keeping with the purpose 
of those who founded the colony and the town. 

It must be remembered that this was not an isolated event. 
This was a part of the religious and political movement of the 
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries which so greatly affected 
English history, and made the beginning of the new England 
and so of the American republic. As it has proved, the estab- 
lishment of a Puritan church here was to be an important fact 
in the history of the colony, and thus of the nation. It was an 
embodiment of the spirit of which Dr. Palfrey has well said : 
" It is as old as the truth and manliness of England." 

That church remains the First Church in Cambridge. It is 
not proposed to recite its annals here. The story has been told 
more than once. Yet a few things which have marked its past 
may be repeated. The first meeting-house was not an imposing 
building. We have no plan of it. But the meeting-house in 
Boston had mud walls and a thatched roof. This was, we may 
suppose, very much like that in character, though it was prob- 
ably built of logs, and in accordance with the law the roof was 
"covered with slate or board." The chimney could not be 
made of wood. Thus early were they taking precaution against 
fire. This house was small and plain, especially if compared 
with the stately parish churches of England. But it had a 
rare dignity from the presence of Thomas Hooker and Thomas 
Shepard, and the earnest exiles who were with them. The 
people of the town were required to come to the meeting-house 



THE REV. THOMAS SHEPARD. 235 

on the first Monday of every month within half an hour after 
the ringing: of the bell. This would indicate that there was a 
bell on the house. But when Edward Johnson was here in 
1636, he wandered out from Charlestown till he came to a large 
plain, where he heard a drum. He asked a man whom he met 
what the drum was for, and was told it was to call people to 
the meeting-house where Mr. Shepard preached. He found his 
way to the place, and was so deeply impressed that he resolved 
to live and die with the ministers of New England. The town 
and church acquired special prominence when in the same year 
in which the church was formed the General Court agreed to 
give four hundred pounds, equal to a year's rate of the whole 
colony, a grant of fifty cents from each of the four thousand 
inhabitants, towards a school or college. The next year it was 
ordered that the college should be here, and in 1638 the college 
was opened, and Newtown became Cambridge. The college 
was founded here because this was a pleasant and convenient 
place, and the town was " under the orthodox and soul-flourish- 
ing ministry of Mr. Thomas Shepheard." The college was meant 
to serve the churches, and to give them a learned ministry when 
the first ministers should lie in the dust. The ministers of 
the church had a constant influence in shaping the life of the 
college ; and the presence of the college, with its teachers and 
students, conferred a rare distinction, which has remained. A 
very exciting and important matter in the colony was the arrival 
of Mrs. Ann Hutchinson in 1634. She soon declared some pe- 
culiar views, which were deemed erroneous and hurtful. Then 
came a fierce dissension, and the colony was in dire peril. There 
was so much confusion in Boston that the General Court met 
here, and an election was held on the Common. Then an eccle- 
siastical synod, the first held in America, was called, and met 
here, in the little meeting-house on Dunster Street, and its ses- 
sions lasted for three weeks. Eighty-two of Mrs. Hutchinson's 
opinions were condemned with great unanimity. We can easily 
imagine what the people here were talking about in those 
days. In 1648 the Cambridge Platform was framed. In 1649 
Thomas Shepard died, and in 1650 Jonathan Mitchel — "the 
matchless Mitchel " — became his successor in the church and 
parsonage, and married the widow, Margaret Shepard. In the 
Quinquennial Catalogue of the college, at the head of the list for 
1647, stands Jonathan Mitchel, A. M. : Fellow. In that year, 



236 THE PROTESTANT CHURCHES OF CAMBRIDGE. 

1650, the second meeting-house was built on Watchhouse Hill. 
A very sad event in this pastorate was the declaration of Henry 
Dunster, president of the college, of his new views regarding 
the baptism of children. This led to a bitter controversy, which 
ended in Dunster's resignation of his office and his removal 
from Cambridge. But he asked that his burial might be in 
Cambridge, and so it was. By a singular error, the slab which 
bears the record of his virtues has been for many years over 
Mitchel's grave. Another incident in this pastorate was the 
setting off of the people of Cambridge Village, on the south side 
of the river, and more than four miles from the meeting-house, 
that they might have separate services. This was strongly 
objected to, but at last, in 1664, a new church was organized, 
and it has had a good history as the First Church in Newton. 
Rev. Urian Oakes was the minister here from 1671 for ten 
years, and acting-president and president of the college from 
1675 to 1681. Rev. Nathaniel Gookin, son of the famous 
Major-General Daniel Gookin, assisted Mr. Oakes for two 
years, and followed him as the pastor of the church from 1682 
to 1692. In his time, the people of Cambridge Farms, now 
Lexington, were begging to be set off as a separate precinct, and 
this was granted in 1691. In 1696 the church at Lexington 
was formed. Thus the church here was losing on both sides. 
Rev. William Brattle, a tutor in the college, became the minis- 
ter in 1696, and remained till 1717. In that time the third 
meeting-house was erected where the second had been. Then 
came the long pastorate of Rev. Nathaniel Appleton, from 1717 
to 1784. The fourth meeting-house came in his time, and on 
the old site. An Episcopal church was opened in 1761. During 
this time Whitefield was arousing the country by his marvel- 
ous preaching. In 1740 he came here, and saw many things 
which displeased him. The college faculty published a pam- 
phlet in reply to his charges, and he modified some of them. 
He became a friend of the college, and was of service in pro- 
curing books for the library. There was still further attempt 
to reduce the church. In 1732 Menotomy was made a precinct 
by itself, and in 1739 a church was formed there. From 1747 
to 1749 the people in what is now Brighton were seeking to be 
made a separate religious precinct. This was stoutly resisted, 
but in 1779 the separate precinct was incorporated, and author- 
ized to settle a minister of its own, and in 1783 a new church 
was formed. 



MR. BRATTLE'S SALARY. 237 

But the great event of Dr. Appleton's ministry was the Revo- 
lution and the beginning of the republic. Cambridge had a 
conspicuous share in all this work of patriotism. The church had 
its part in the town and for the country, as from the beginning. 
The lands of the church appear frequently in the records of 
this period. There is a catalogue signed " N. A.," and entitled, 
" Lands belonging to the Church and Congregation in Cam- 
bridge for the Use of the Ministry." There are several lots in 
Menotomy, a lot of twenty acres in Newton, a farm of 500 acres 
in Lexington. The Newton and Lexington lands were sold in 
Appleton's time, and the rest later. 

The minister was not paid altogether in money. Mr. Brattle 
wrote in the Church Book : " My salary from the town is ninety 
pounds per annum, and the overplus money." Afterwards he had 
£100. There are long lists of donors of wood. The sending of 
the wood seems to have been discontinued at the time his salary 
was increased. In 1697 is a long list headed, " Sent in since 
Nov. 3, the day that I was married. From my good neighbors 
in town." Then follows an account of articles for his table, 
with the names of the donors : " Goody Gove, 1 pd. Fresh But- 
ter, M. ; Docf- Oliver, a line Pork, 2s. ; Sarah Ferguson, 1 pig, 
Is. 9cZ." 

Mr. Appleton acknowledges gifts made to him : " My good 
friends and neighbors have for several years past, in the fall of 
the year, brought me a considerable quantity of wood gratis, 
some years between thirty and forty loads, sometimes above 
forty loads." Then follow the names of the friends and the 
quantity of the wood they brought. He needed this. The times 
were hard. He has left a receipt for £3 2s. to complete the 
payment of his salary in continental bills, " although they are 
exceedingly depreciated." His salary had been £100, and, 
while the amount was probably but little changed, he gave 
receipts in one year for £600 ; and the next year for ,£750 ; 
and in 1783 for £2000 paper currency and £25 silver cur- 
rency. He lived to be nearly ninety years old. For a few 
months he had a colleague, the Rev. Timothy Hilliard, who 
remained the minister of the church till 1790. In January, 
1792, Rev. Abiel Holmes became the pastor. He remained the 
pastor of the church until September, 1831. He died in 1837. 
Dr. Holmes's pastorate was a period of very great importance. 
He was well known as a historian, and was active in all public 



238 THE PROTESTANT CHURCHES OF CAMBRIDGE. 

affairs ; lie was greatly esteemed in the community, and his 
name and fame went far abroad. 

In 1814 a church was formed in the college, with the assist- 
ance of the pastor and delegates of the First Church. All was 
done in friendliness, but it was a serious withdrawal of men of 
consequence, and the church must have felt it. The services of 
the University church were discontinued after the resignation of 
Rev. Dr. A. P. Peabody. But a much sadder experience came 
fifteen years later, in 1829, when the church separated from 
the parish and the meeting - house. It was more than forty 
years after King's Chapel, in Boston, had become a Unitarian 
church. Other churches had adopted the new views. At last 
the crisis came here. The majority of the parish dismissed Dr. 
Holmes, and the church went out with him. Some members 
remained in the old house, but the church, acting " as a church 
in a religious point of view, having the ordinances adminis- 
tered and other religious offices performed," went out with 
the pastor. There were, then, under the decision of the Su- 
preme Court, the church as a purely religious organization, and 
that connected with the parish. These have remained distinct, 
though the relations between them are friendly. They join in 
the annual Thanksgiving service, and in 1886 united in cele- 
brating the organization of the one church in 163G. The his- 
tory has been traced to this point with some detail, because it 
is continuous for two hundred and sixty years, and the church 
has lived and grown with the village and town and city. The 
separation of church and parish took place while the meeting- 
house of 1756 was the common home. It was a famous build- 
ing. Of this house President Quincy wrote : " In this edifice 
all the public Commencements and solemn inaugurations, dur- 
ing more than seventy years, were celebrated ; and no building 
in Massachusetts can compare with it in the number of distin- 
guished men who at different times have been assembled within 
its walls." The names of Washington, Lafayette, Everett, and 
others, readily come to mind. The remainder of this part of 
the story can be briefly told. The First Church, under Dr. 
Holmes's ministry, worshiped for a time in the old court-house. 
In December, 1829, Rev. Nehemiah Adams was settled as Dr. 
Holmes's colleague, and he remained as pastor after Dr. Holmes's 
resignation in 1831, and until 1834. Meantime the house on 
Mount Auburn and Holyoke streets was erected. Rev. John A. 



THE UNITARIAN CHURCH. 239 

Albro had a very useful ministry from April, 1835, to April, 
1865. In that formative period he was eminent in wisdom and 
discretion. The present pastor, Rev. Alexander McKenzie, was 
installed January 24, 1867. The house which is now the home 
of the First Church was dedicated in 1872. The Shepard Con- 
gregational Society, which took the place of the old parish 
organization, was formed in 1829. The first parish and the 
church belonging to it remained in the old meeting-house until 
1833, when they removed to the meeting-house in Harvard 
Square. Rev. William Newell became the minister in 1830, 
and continued in his office until 1868. During this long pas- 
torate, and after his retirement, he was held in high esteem for 
his learning and his piety, and his fidelity in the duties of his 
sacred calling. Rev. Francis G. Peabody was the next minis- 
ter, and was followed by Rev. Edward H. Hall, both of whom 
most worthily served the church and the community, and are 
held in warm regard. Rev. Samuel M. Crothers became the 
minister in June, 1894, and in his care the church is enjoying 
an ample prosperity. Whoever inquires concerning the present 
churches of Cambridge will find these, which honor a common 
ancestry, and are striving to perfect the work which they have 
inherited. 

But he will find much more than this. The town has ad- 
vanced with the years, and there are many churches where, for 
nearly one half of our civil life, there was but one. Of neces- 
sity the narrative from this point, embracing many churches in 
the place of one, must be much briefer and more general. The 
Protestant Episcopal Church was the second of the churches 
here. Several worthy gentlemen, members of the Church of 
England, petitioned the Society for the Propagation of the Gos- 
pel in Foreign Parts, to appoint a missionary who should per- 
form divine service and administer religious ordinances accord- 
ing to the belief and usage of the English Church. Rev. East 
Apthorr>, a Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge, England, was 
proposed, and was appointed in 1759. In 1761 Christ Church 
was opened for service. In the time of the Revolution service 
in the church was interrupted, and the house was used for mili- 
tary purposes, though an occasional service was held. In 1790 
the house was restored, and it has since been enlarged and 
adorned. The longest ministry was that of Rev. Nicholas 
Hoppin, from 1839 to 1874. He stands worthily in this long 



240 THE PROTESTANT CHURCHES OF CAMBRIDGE. 

pastorate with his friends, Dr. Albro and Dr. Newell. The 
parish of St. Peter's Church was organized in 1842. Its first 
house of worship was on Prospect Street. In 1867 the new 
church on Massachusetts Avenue was opened. St. James's 
Parish, in North Cambridge, was organized in 1866. A mission 
of the Protestant Episcopal Church had been sustained in that 
part of the city for eighteen months, under the charge of the 
Rev. Andrew Croswell. He was followed by lie v. W. H. Fultz 
and liev. T. S. Tyng. In 1878 Rev. Edward Abbott took 
charge of the parish, and has remained its rector. In 1889 a 
fine stone church was completed. The parish has enjoyed an 
increasing prosperity in its enlarged work. There are other 
Episcopal churches in different parts of the city. The Epis- 
copal Theological School was incorporated in 1867. This is 
described elsewhere. In other parts of the city Episcopal ser- 
vices are sustained. A few years since a Reformed Episcopal 
Church was established in Cambridgeport. 

Following now the chronological order, early in the century, 
" the Port," as it was termed, had the promise of large commer- 
cial prosperity, and its expansion naturally included churches. 
That part of the town had been under the parochial care of the 
First Church and its ministers. Dr. Holmes had visited among: 
the people, distributed hymn-books and catechisms, and tried 
in all ways to be a pastor to those who had no other. Of course 
this could not long suffice. A new parish was formed in 1808, 
and a church in 1809 ; a meeting-house was opened in 1807. 
Rev. Thomas Brattle Gannett, who had two good Cambridge 
names, was the first minister. In the division which came later 
this church placed itself upon the Unitarian side. The long 
ministry of Rev. George W. Briggs, D. D., has but just closed, 
— a man held in reverence by all who knew him. Other Unita- 
rian churches have since been organized in different parts of 
the city, but only these two are holding services at the present 
time. The first Methodist Episcopal Society was formed in 
East Cambridge in 1813, and is doing an important work in 
that ward, while other Methodist churches are busily engaged 
in different parts of the city. The Methodists have recently 
erected a fine stone meeting-house on Massachusetts Avenue. 
The first Baptist church was formed in 1817, in Cambridge- 
port, and it is pursuing its work with vigor in Central Square and 
out from that centre. Every ward of the city has one or more 



THE OTHER CHURCHES. 241 

Baptist churches. The first Universalist church was estab- 
lished in Cambridgeport in 1822, though services under that 
name had. been held in a schoolhouse for some years before. 
The first pastor was the Rev. Thomas Whittemore, who was 
widely known in connection with his denomination and in other 
spheres of activity. The honored and now venerable Dr. L. R. 
Paio-e was the efficient minister of this church. Two other 
churches of this order are doing their work in East Cambridge 
and North Cambridge. Before the separation of the First 
Church from the First Parish, but while the controversy which 
resulted in that was becoming very serious, a second Congrega- 
tional church was formed, the first of this order in Cambridge- 
port. This was in 1827. A meeting-house was built on Nor- 
folk Street, and in 1852 a more stately house on Prospect 
Street, where the church now has its seat. Among its minis- 
ters have been Rev. William A. Stearns, one of the most hon- 
ored and useful citizens of the town, and afterwards president 
of Amherst College ; and the Rev. David N. Beach, who after 
eleven years of vigorous service, in which the interests of the 
city have known his influence, has just transferred his woi*k 
to another part of the land. Other churches have been formed, 
three in Cambridgeport and one in North Cambridge, and there 
are thus six Congregational churches in the city. 

The history of the Roman Catholic churches will be written 
by another hand. But it is fitting here also to recognize the 
Catholic clergymen who have been prominent as useful citizens, 
and especially those who have joined with their Protestant neigh- 
bors in the no license movement, which has been so marked a 
feature of our municipal life. 

In 1888 the services of the New Jerusalem Church were estab- 
lished in Cambridge, and not long after the theological school 
of that church was removed here. The school is well placed 
upon Quincy Street. In its chapel there are public services on 
Sunday, in the care of Rev. Theodore F. Wright, Ph. D., pro- 
fessor and dean of the school. 

The First United Presbyterian Church holds its services in 
a chapel in Inman Square, and the Reformed Presbyterian 
Church in a hall on Massachusetts Avenue. The Union Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church is also holding its meetings in a hall. 
The Swedes have services for their own people. There are 
other religious services, in which the preferences and necessities 



242 THE PROTESTANT CHURCHES OF CAMBRIDGE. 

of good men and women are fully regarded. The colored resi- 
dents of the city have two Methodist churches and one Baj)tist 
church in Cambridgeport, and a mission on Plympton Street, 
and they are carrying on their useful work with a very generous 
zeal. 

It is not in the province of this article to speak of the vari- 
ous organizations for philanthropic and educational work which 
may be found in Cambridge. The Social Union, the Prospect 
Union, the Avon Home, the two Homes for Old Ladies, the 
Cambridge Hospital, all have their place. The East End Mis- 
sion, besides its other work, has a flourishing Union Sunday- 
school. But a more distinct mention should here be made of 
two institutions whose work is of many kinds, but which give the 
most prominent place to direct religious service and services. 
The first is the Young Men's Christian Association, which was 
organized in 1883, and which has a large and vigorous member- 
ship. Its influence will be greatly enlarged when it enters the 
new building which is at once to be erected. The other is the 
Young Women's Christian Association, which was formed in 
1891. The name indicates its purpose, and its purpose and 
achievement justify its name. It is doing a broad and much 
needed work for young women. It has a wide field, and could 
greatly enlarge its efficiency if it had a building of its own. 
This is at once its desert and its necessity. 

It is evident that any one who wishes to find in Cambridge 
a place in which he can invest his benevolent energies can 
readily do so. Any one who seeks here a congenial religious 
home, a church with whose worship and work he can ally him- 
self, where he can minister and be ministered unto, can without 
difficulty find it. 

It must be remembered by those who would understand our 
history that Cambridge virtually began as a church. The insti- 
tutions of religion, at first in simple forms, have been here from 
the beginning. They have increased with the increase of the 
town. They have come quietly, as there were those who needed 
them, and have taken their own place in the life of the com- 
munity. Indeed, the growth of the town, not merely in numbers 
but in diversity also, can be very well traced in the successive 
appearance of the various churches which have arisen. The start- 
ing was informal, in a simple Congregational church. When, a 
century and a quarter later, the Church of England granted the 



NEW ELEMENTS AND GROWTH. 243 

request for a minister, it was clear that a new element had come 
into the Massachusetts town, and that others besides the Puri- 
tans were here. A change in theological thought, at a later 
day, is disclosed by the presence of a Unitarian church. 

The extension of the town away from the centre is made evi- 
dent by churches remote from the college. They have come up 
among new homes in a natural way, and as they were required. 
The present extension of the city means the forming of more 
churches where new houses are rising along new streets. The 
fifty years of our life as a city have given us nearly every house 
of worship that we have, and every minister. The present form 
of ecclesiastical life, so far as men and buildings are concerned, 
and even so far as methods of work are concerned, belongs in 
a large degree within these fifty years. What the future is to 
bring it were useless to predict. It seems likely to bring expan- 
sion rather than change. But there is every reason to expect 
that the churches will increase with the growth of the city ; that, 
as in the past, they will share the common life ; that they will 
promote intelligence and virtue, and the best citizenship ; that 
churches and ministers will guard the honor of the city, main- 
tain its laws, and in all ways promote its well-being. 



THE CATHOLICS AND THEIR CHURCHES. 

By JUDGE CHARLES J. McINTIRE. 

Foe more than tenscore years and ten after Governor Win- 
throp and his associates sailed up the Charles River and found 
a suitable spot on which to plant their fortified Newe Towne, 
the Catholics had not attained sufficient numbers to erect a 
church within its limits. Up to the year 1842 our citizens of 
that faith were obliged to attend either the cathedral on Frank- 
lin Street in Boston, erected in 1803, or the church in Charles- 
town, which followed it in 1828. 

While the original Puritan settlers of the colony were living, 
there was little inducement for Catholics to come and abide 
with them, and if either Miles Standish, William Mullins, his 
daughter Priscilla, or our own doughty captain and commander- 
in-chief of the " Newe Towne " forces, Daniel Patrick, ever 
attended upon the services of the " Roman Church " in any por- 
tion of what is now called the " United Kingdom," they cer- 
tainly never did so here, and they probably said very little of 
their past experience. 

The first record of Catholic worship in the colony is at the 
time of the visit of Father Dnillettes to Boston as a commis- 
sioner from Canada, in 1650. He was entertained at the resi- 
dence of Major-General Gibbons while making negotiations for 
a treaty of alliance. 

From this time there were probably no Catholic services until 
they were held upon the ships of the French fleet in the harbor 
during the Revolutionary War, when the people, following 
the noble example of Washington, had become very tolerant in 
the presence of Lafayette and the many French, Polish, and 
other European Catholic officers and soldiers who had espoused 
our cause of liberty. 

At the close of the Revolution the Catholics in and about 
Boston purchased the chapel on School Street which had been 



THE REV. JOHN DE CHEVERUS. 245 

used by the Huguenots, and occupied it until the erection of the 
church on Franklin Street, under the ministrations of Father 
Porterie, who had been a chaplain in the French navy, Father 
Rousselet, and afterwards the Rev. John Thayer, who was a 
native of Boston and a convert to the faith. In 1792 the Rev. 
Francis Matignon, who was an exile of the French Revolution, 
was sent from Baltimore by Bishop Carroll, to aid Father 
Thayer, and remained down to the time of his death in 1818. 
The whole of New England was placed under the spiritual guid- 
ance of these two priests, and they were constant and earnest 
workers in the field assigned to them. Doctor Matignon was 
a pious, profound, and talented scholar, and a refined and accom- 
plished gentleman. He endeared himself so much to the peo- 
ple that his death was sincerely mourned by all classes and 
creeds. 

In 1796, through the solicitations of Father Matignon, the 
Rev. John de Cheverus, who had also been driven by the revo- 
lutionists from France, and had been in England since 1792, 
came to this country. He first went among the Indians as a 
missionary, but in 1798 he joined Father Matignon, and aided 
in the erection of the church on Franklin Street, which was 
afterwards to be his cathedral, and the first in New England. 
Generous contributions for this structure were made by Protes- 
tant citizens, among others by John Adams, then President of 
the United States. 

In 1808 New England was severed from the diocese of Balti- 
more, Boston was erected into an Episcopal see, and Dr. de 
Cheverus made its first bishop. He remained in charge of this 
diocese until 1823, when he returned to his native country as 
Bishop of Montauban. A few years later he was created Arch- 
bishop of Bordeaux, Cardinal and Peer of the Realm. 

Cardinal Cheverus was a noble and charming character. He 
was learned, but not pedantic ; firm and decided, yet amiable, 
benign, and meek. He delighted in the company of children, 
who were his constant companions. A scholar and a polished 
scion of a noble family, it was his constant practice to go unat- 
tended among the poor and sick, look personally after their 
needs, and make them forget their afflictions and poverty by his 
example of charity and humility. 

In 1825 the Rev. Benedict Joseph Fenwick was appointed 
Bishop of Boston, and was consecrated on November 1. He 



246 THE CATHOLICS AND THEIR CHURCHES. 

was a native of Maryland, and a descendant of one of the early 
English settlers under Leonard Calvert. He, too, was a pro- 
found scholar, a wise and prudent counselor, and a humble and 
zealous prelate. 

Down to the year 1793 the Catholics of Cambridge were 
obliged, in order to attend their church, either to row across the 
river, or to go around through Roxbury, entering Boston by the 
way of " The Neck," which latter journey was eight miles in 
length, as Abraham Ireland measured it, and marked it upon 
the milestone which now stands inside the fence of the old 
burial ground at Harvard Square ; for there was no other bridge 
until the West Boston Bridge was constructed in that year. 

st. John's paeish, and church of the sacred heart. 

In 1828 Cambridge was made a part of the parish of Saint 
Mary's Church at Charlestown, and her people attended ser- 
vices in the church of that name upon Richmond Street, placed 
under the charge of Father Byrne, — the bridge between East 
Cambridge and Boston having been completed in 1809, and 
that to Prison Point in Charlestown in 1819. A Sunday-school 
was organized about 1830 in the Methodist Academy building, 
at the corner of Otis and Fourth streets, and Mr. Daniel H. 
Southwick was its first superintendent. The children, after 
their lessons on each Sunday, were formed in line and marched 
to the Charlestown church, to take part in the services there. 

About the year 1836, in consequence of the erection of the 
new bridge, the glass works, and the pottery works, which had 
been established, a number of Catholic families had gathered 
at Lechmere Point (or East Cambridge), in Cambridgeport, 
and Somerville, and on June 11 of that year Mr. Southwick 
secured a small parcel of land, twenty-five by one hundred feet, 
on the westerly side of Fourth Street, near Otis Street, and 
conveyed it to the bishop on- July 29, with the intention of 
securing more and erecting a church. No general action, how- 
ever, was taken in the matter until January 17, 1842, when the 
parishioners were called together to take into consideration the 
propriety of erecting a new church. This meeting was held at 
the Academy building, and it was voted necessary to erect a 
church at East Cambridge. A committee of three was appointed 
to wait upon the bishop and inform him of their action, and to 
ask the services of a priest. Thirty-six hundred dollars was 



ST. JOHN'S CHURCH, EAST CAMBRIDGE. 247 

subscribed at this meeting', and it was adjourned to meet on the 
30th. On the 30th Bishop Fenwick, the Rev. John B. Fitzpat- 
rick, and Rev. P. Byrne met with them ; they were encouraged 
to pursue the work so well begun, and Father Fitzpatrick was 
assigned to assist them and to become their pastor. 

Messrs. Southwick, Gleeson, John W. Loring, Lawrence B. 
Watts, and James Casey were appointed a building committee, 
and Messrs. Southwick, Loring, and Gleeson a committee to 
select and secure a site. A lot on the easterly side of Fourth 
Street, near to Otis, was secured, and, at a meeting held on 
February 20, it was voted that the name of " St. John's 
Church " be given to the structure to be erected. On March 
19 the deed of a lot of land seventy by one hundred feet from 
Amos Binney to Bishop Fenwick was passed. The building 
committee commenced and vigorously prosecuted their work, so 
that services were held in the basement October 9, by Father 
Fitzpatrick. On September 3, 1843, the structure, being com- 
plete, was dedicated by the bishop. 

Father Fitzpatrick remained as pastor until early in 1844, 
when he was made coadjutor-bishop of the diocese, and returned 
to Boston. The parish, as originally constituted, comprised the 
entire towns of Cambridge and Somerville. On April 22, 1844, 
the Rev. Manasses P. Dougherty was appointed pastor, and on 
August 11, 1846, Bishop Feuwick died, and was succeeded by 
Father Fitzpatrick, his coadjutor, who had been the first priest 
of the first Catholic church in Cambridge. 

In 1847 Woburn was added to the parish, and Father 
Magrath was sent as an assistant. At this time the Catholic 
population had become so numerous in Old Cambridge that 
they desired to have a church of their own, and Father Dough- 
erty was commissioned to erect one there, and take charge of a 
new parish comprising the territory now known as Old Cam- 
bridge and North Cambridge. He left St. John's parish in 
November, 1848, and in December held services for the first 
time in his new church of St. Peter. The Rev. George F. 
Riorden succeeded Father Dougherty in November as pastor of 
St. John's, and remained until December, 1851, when he was 
succeeded in turn by the Rev. Lawrence Carroll, who with 
patience, ability, and zeal devoted himself constantly to the 
needs of his large and increasing parish up to the time of his 
decease on November 23, 1858. He is remembered as one of 



248 THE CATHOLICS AND THEIR CHURCHES. 

the kindest and most genial of men, who filled the atmosphere 
about him with his cheerful presence. Seventeen days before 
his death, his assistant, Father Farren, who had been with him 
for about a year, but all the time in poor health, had also died. 

During the illness of Father Carroll, and after his decease, 
until January 7, 1859, the Rev. George F. Haskins acted as 
temporary pastor ; on the latter date, the Rev. Francis Bran- 
igan received the permanent appointment. He remained about 
two years, and during that time purchased land and com- 
menced the erection of St. Mary's Church in Cambridgeport. 
In December, 1860, he resigned, and died soon after. For a 
number of months the parish w r as without a permanent pastor, 
during which period its spiritual wants were supplied by the 
Rev. Joseph Coyle. He died on November 21, 1862. 

Early in 1862 the Rev. John W. Donohue was appointed, 
and assumed the duties of pastor. In 1866 the Cambridge- 
port parish was set off. In 1870 Somerville was created a 
separate parish, reducing the parish of St. John's to its present 
dimensions, comprising the whole of East Cambridge and that 
part of Cambridgeport which lies between the Grand Junction 
Railroad, Windsor Street, and the Broad Canal. 

The number of the pai'ishioners continued to increase so rap- 
idly that the church on Fourth Street could not sufficiently 
accommodate them, and in 1872 Bishop Williams, the successor 
of Bishop Fitzpatrick, bought a lot of land on Spring Street 
for the purpose of erecting a new church, but the health of 
Father Donohue did not permit him to pursue the work, and he 
died on March 5, 1873. During the eleven years of his pas- 
torate the affairs of the parish were w r ell conducted, and never 
was St. John's Church in a more prosperous condition than 
at the time of his decease. Fathers Rossi and Shinnick were 
his assistants. 

On the 8th of March the Rev. John O'Brien was taken from 
Concord and appointed to the parish of St. John's, the bishop 
recognizing in him the eminent qualifications necessary for the 
charge of this parish and the erection of a new and spacious 
church, such as was contemplated. After a meeting of the 
parishioners, when it was found that the lot purchased by the 
bishop was unsuited in some particulars, a site at the corner 
of Otis and Sixth streets was secured, and purchased on July 
23. No delay was made, and the foundation w r as finished and 



ST. PETER'S CHURCH. 249 

the corner-stone of the new edifice laid on October 4, 1874. 
On January 28, 1883, the entire structure was completed and 
dedicatory services held. 

This is the " Church of the Sacred Heart," the largest and 
handsomest Catholic church in the city, of the decorated Gothic 
style, seventy-five by one hundred and fifty feet in dimension, 
built of blue slate with trimmings of granite. The nave is 
sixty-five feet high, and the spire one hundred and eighty feet. 
There is a seating capacity of eighteen hundred, and the beau- 
tiful and artistic Gothic altar of Caen stone was especially 
modeled in London by eminent sculptors. It stands fifty feet 
in height, and contains four groups of figures, representing the 
life of the Saviour, sculptured in almost human size. This par- 
ish numbers between twelve and fifteen thousand souls. Father 
O'Brien is still the pastor in charge, and is assisted by five cu- 
rates. 

THE PARISH OF ST. PETER'S CHURCH. 

As before stated, in the year 1847 the Rev. Manasses P. 
Dougherty, while pastor of the parish of the Church of St. 
John, in East Cambridge, recognizing the necessity of church 
facilities for those of his flock who were settled in the north- 
ern part of the city, secured a site upon Concord Avenue, and 
commenced the erection of a church, to be called after St. 
Peter. This building had progressed so rapidly that in Novem- 
ber, 1848, Father Dougherty gave up his charge of the parish 
of St. John's for the parish set off from it, and in December 
of that year services were held in his new church, which was 
consecrated in 1849. Father Dougherty continued as pastor 
of this parish until his death in July, 1877. He was greatly 
esteemed in and beyond his parish for his generosity and piety. 

The Rev. James E. O'Brien was appointed to take charge in 
the same month as the decease of Father Dougherty, and he 
remained in charge until death removed him in July, 1888, 
when he was followed by the present pastor, the Rev. John 
Flatley, who is assisted by Fathers Doody and Flaherty as 
curates. Father Flatley has been most assiduous in his pas- 
toral duties, and is held in high esteem and veneration. Through 
his constant effoi-ts and encouragement three new parishes have 
been created within the past six years out of the territory 
of St. Peter's. They are known as St. John's, on Rindge 
Avenue, North Cambridge ; Notre Dame de Pitie, the French 



250 THE CATHOLICS AND THEIR CHURCHES. 

congregation in the same locality ; and the Church of the Sa- 
cred Heart, which is on the border of Cambridge, in that part 
of Watertown known as Mount Auburn. St. Peter's parish 
has a population of about twenty-five hundred people. 

THE PARISH OF ST. MARY'S CHURCH, NORFOLK STREET. 

This parish was created partly from St. John's and partly 
from St. Peter's. It was set off and made an independent 
parish in the year 1866. In 1860 the Rev. Francis Brani- 
gan, as pastor of St. John's, purchased land at the corner 
of Harvard and Norfolk streets, and it was his intention and 
desire to erect a church for those of his people who re- 
sided in that locality ; but his illness and resignation, which 
soon followed, interfered with the project, and it was delayed 
until the bishop gave permission to Father Dougherty, of St. 
Peter's, to go on with the work. He organized the new parish 
early in 1866, commenced to lay the foundation of a church 
on June 7, and the corner-stone was laid by Bishop Williams 
July 15 of that year. Father Dougherty performed the duties 
of pastor of this church and congregation, together with those 
of his own, until May, 1867, when the parish was given to the 
Rev. T. Scully, who took formal charge June 9, 1867. The 
work of completing the church building was pushed vigor- 
ously by him, so that the structure was ready for the services 
of dedication on Sunday, March 8, 1868. Since 1867 he has 
remained the pastor, and the parish has from time to time 
added largely to its property, including a convent school for 
girls in charge of the sisters of Notre Dame, a school for boys, 
a hall for parish purposes, and a gymnasium. The population 
belonging to this church numbers between twelve and fifteen 
thousand. 

THE PARISH OF ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, MOUNT AUBURN STREET. 

A few years after the erection of St. Mary's church in Cam- 
bridgeport, Father Dougherty saw the necessity of another 
church building to accommodate his rapidly increasing parish- 
ioners properly, and in 1873 he accordingly purchased the meet- 
ing-house at the corner of Mount Auburn and Holyoke streets, 
which had long been used by the Shepard Congregational soci- 
ety. After some alterations he opened it for worship during 
the same year, and gathered as its congregation about two 



FRENCH-SPEAKING CATHOLICS. 251 

thousand souls. In 1875 it was set off as a separate parish, 
with the Rev. William Orr as its resident pastor. 

Father Orr, assisted by two curates, Fathers Coan and Ryan, 
is still directing its affairs. He has added the property on 
Mount Auburn Street, known as the " Gordon McKay estate," 
and erected a large school upon it. He contemplates within a 
short time placing also upon this site a commodious new church. 
This parish now numbers about four thousand. 

THE NEW ST. JOHN'S PAEISH, RINDGE AVENUE. 

The rapid increase of the congregation of St. Peter's church 
had again made that structure too small at the time Father 
Flatley was appointed to be its pastor, and soon after taking- 
charge of the parish, he began to interest his people to secure 
additional facilities for worship. A lot was purchased upon 
Rindge Avenue of sufficient size for a church and convent 
school, and in the summer of 1890 work was begun upon the 
chapel and school building. The chapel was completed in Feb- 
ruary, 1892, and has a seating capacity of eight hundred. 

Father Flatley continued to attend to the religious needs of 
the congregation until the district was set off and a parish cre- 
ated on January 1, 1893, when the Rev. John B. Halloran was 
appointed its pastor. He still remains in charge, and has one 
assistant, Rev. Michael Welch. All that part of Cambridge 
which lies north of the main line of the Fitchburg Railroad, 
together with West Somerville, is contained in this parish, which 
numbers almost three thousand souls. 

THE CHURCH OF NOTRE DAME DE PITl£, HARVEY STREET. 

The brick-making and other industries of Cambridge and 
Somerville have caused the collection of large numbers of 
French-speaking Catholics from the Canadas in the northern 
portion of our city and hi Somerville. These people, feeling 
themselves sufficiently strong to constitute a separate congrega- 
tion, obtained permission from the archbishop to erect a church, 
and work was begun in June, 1892. It was completed and the 
building dedicated on December 8, 1892. The Rev. Elphege 
Godin, S. M., was its first pastor. He was followed by the 
Rev. Stephen Artland, S. M., and by Rev. T. J. Remy, S. M. 
The present pastor is the Rev. Henri Audiffred, S. M., ap- 
pointed in October, 1895. The capacity of this church is six 



252 THE CATHOLICS AND THEIR CHURCHES. 

hundred. Last year a parochial residence was erected. The 
congregation is composed of the French-speaking people of 
Cambridge and Somerville, and is fast increasing in numbers. 

THE NEW CHURCH AND PARISH OF THE SACRED HEART, AT 
MOUNT AUBURN. 

This parish was taken from Cambridge and Watertown, and 
is bounded in Cambridge by Coolidge, Elmwood, Lexington, 
and Concord avenues. The church building is in Watertown, 
but the larger portion of the congregation are inhabitants of 
Cambridge. On August 27, 1893, the corner-stone of this edi- 
fice was laid, the construction having been placed in charge 
of the Rev. Robert P. Stack, of Watertown. This church is 
not yet completed, though services have been held there since 
January 1, 1894. After the decease of Father Stack, the Rev. 
Thomas W. Coughlin was appointed its pastor, and a parish 
was created January 1, 1896. Capacity, five hundred. Cath- 
olic population of parish, seven hundred and fifty. 

THE CATHOLIC UNION. 

The Catholic Union was founded in 1894 ; its purpose is liter- 
ary and social, and to improve the Catholic people of Cambridge. 
It has a membership of two hundred and fourteen, and during 
the winter lectures on Catholic subjects are given, and they are 
open to the public. Edmund Reardon is president, and Wil- 
liam M. Wadden recording secretary. 

TEMPERANCE AND CHARITABLE SOCIETIES. 

Each of the several Catholic parishes in Cambridge has a 
temperance society, and also a branch of the society of Saint 
Vincent de Paul for the relief of the poor, and all these are 
quietly and assiduously doing good work. The temperance soci- 
ety in East Cambridge was founded by Father Matthew him- 
self in December, 1849, upon his visit to this country, and is 
named after that great apostle of temperance. It is the oldest 
and largest in the archdiocese, one of the oldest Catholic total 
abstinence societies in the United States, and has been the 
example and mainstay of the temperance cause among the 
Catholics in Massachusetts from its beginning. It has a pres- 
ent membership of about three hundred and fifty, which in- 
cludes some of the best business and professional men in the 
parish. 



AN EXAMPLE TO BE NOTED. 253 



CONCLUSION. 

The foregoing shows the rapid growth of the Catholic popu- 
lation in our city. When the charter was granted in 1846, 
there existed but one Catholic church, and this had been erected 
less than four years, and seated only about six hundred people. 
There were then fourteen Protestant churches, two of which had 
been founded as far back as 1636. In the present year of 1896 
there are seven Catholic and forty-two Protestant churches and 
chapels, and the Catholic population numbers about thirty-five 
thousand. 

Few of all these people can trace their lineage in this country 
further back than two or three generations, yet all are num- 
bered among the most ardent lovers of our country and its in- 
stitutions. The proportion of Catholic soldiers from Cambridge 
in the late war much exceeded their ratio of the population. 
Our Catholic citizens have lived together with their Protestant 
brothers as children, youths, and adults, in amity and peace; 
have sat by them in the same schools and university, entered 
into friendly competition in the same pursuits, and fought by 
their side both in battle and political strife ; men, women, and 
ministers of every creed, hand in hand, have engaged in the 
same charities, and in struggles for temperance and for good 
government. In Cambridge, since it became a city, there has 
existed the greatest charity between Catholics and Protestants, 
the most intelligent of both being conspicuous for their example 
of good-will and toleration ; each freely granting to the other 
perfect freedom of conscience and of worship according to their 
faith. This example is one to which the citizens of our be- 
loved municipality are proud to call attention, for it forms a 
part of what has been styled, and is widely known as, " The 
Cambridge Idea." 



THE EPISCOPAL THEOLOGICAL SCHOOL. 

By THE REV. GEORGE HODGES, D. D., Dean. 

The group of buildings on Brattle Street, between the Wash- 
ington Elm and Craigie House, reminds many visitors of the 
beauties and delights of Oxford, or of that other Cambridge 
from which this takes its name. The green quadrangle, with 
the chapel and the refectory on one side, the library at the end, 
and Lawrence Hall on the other side, and with the great tree 
in the midst, about which Mr. Longfellow wrote a sonnet, has all 
the academic quiet and scholarly seclusion of those fair gardens 
of the elder universities which are set beside the Isis and the 
Cam. There is this difference, however, that while the old 
quadrangles are quite shut in, so that the passer-by gets but a 
glimpse of them through the wicket of a gate, this is fairly 
and generously open to the street, in symbol, as Bishop Law- 
rence used to say when he was dean, of the teaching of the 
school. 

The year 1867, in which the school was founded, was notable 
in the annals of the Episcopal Church as that in which a decla- 
ration condemnatory of ritualism was put forth by twenty-four 
bishops. It was a declaration of independence. It maintained 
that " no Prayer Book of the Church of England in the reign 
of whatever sovereign set forth, and no law of the Church of 
England have any force of law in this church such as can be 
justly cited in defense of any departure from the express law 
of this church." In this year, while ritualism and sacerdotal- 
ism were engaging the anxious attention of good people in 
the Episcopal Church, Mr. Benjamin Tyler Reed, of Boston, 
" desirous of founding at Cambridge within the State and Dio- 
cese of Massachusetts, a Theological School for the purpose of 
educating young men of competent talents, pure morals, and 
piety for the Christian Ministry, in accordance with the doc- 
trines, principles, and polity of the Protestant Episcopal Church 



WHAT PHILLIPS BROOKS SAID. 255 

in the United States of America," appropriated to that end the 
sum of one hundred thousand dollars. The phrases of the formal 
statement are not to be read merely in their conventional sense. 
Every word was weighed. The school was to be American and 
not English, and was to uphold the great truths of the Reforma- 
tion. It was the purpose of the founder that the teachings 
of the school " shall at all times embody and distinctly set forth 
the great doctrine of justification by Faith alone in the Atone- 
ment and Righteousness of Christ, as taught in the ' Articles of 
Religion,' commonly called the thirty-nine articles, according 
to the natural construction of the said articles (Scripture alone 
being the standard) as adopted at the Reformation, and not 
according to any tradition, doctrine, or usage prior to said 
Reformation, not contained in Scripture." 

The school was, therefore, set to train men for the ministry 
of the Episcopal Church who should be learned in the Scrip- 
ures and in sympathy with American institutions, and against 
all attempts at ritualism and sacerdotalism. The institution 
was established at Cambridge on account of the advantages to 
be had from the near neighborhood of Harvard College. 

In order to secure the perpetual maintenance of Mr. Reed's 
good purposes, and to remove the future of the school from the 
changing fortunes of church parties, a board of lay trustees 
was chosen, made up of men in sympathy with these purposes 
and having power to fill vacancies in their number. This wise 
provision has been approved by the experience of nearly thirty 
years. The school is doing to-day the work for which it was 
planned ; so that Bishop Brooks said of it : " We may well be 
specially and profoundly thankful that we have in our great 
seminary at Cambridge a home and nursery of faith and learn- 
ing which no school in our Church has ever surpassed. Full of 
deep sympathy with present thought ; quick with the spirit of 
inquiry ; eager to train its men to think and reason ; equipped 
with teaching power of the highest order ; believing in the ever- 
increasing manifestation of the truth of God ; anxious to blend 
the most earnest piety with the most active intelligence ; and 
so to cultivate a deep, enthusiastic, reasonable faith ; the Cam- 
bridge school stands very high among the powers which bid us 
hope great things for the work which the servants of Christ 
will do for his glory and the salvation of the world in the years 
to come." 



256 THE EPISCOPAL THEOLOGICAL SCHOOL. 

St. John's Memorial Chapel was built in 1869, by Mr. Rob- 
ert Means Mason. Lawrence Hall, completed in 1880, is the 
gift of Mr. Amos Adams Lawrence. Reed Hall, containing 
the library, was built in 1875, by the founder, Mr. Reed. Four 
years after, Mr. John Appleton Burnham built Burnham Hall, 
the refectory. In 1893 Winthrop Hall was built by friends of 
the school, and was named after the Hon. Robert C. Winthrop, 
who until his death was president of the board of trustees of 
the school. The Deanery was given to the school by Mrs. Gray, 
after the death of Dean Gray. 

The first dean was the Rev. Dr. John S. Stone, who served 
the school from 1867 to 1876. Dean Gray followed him, from 
1876 to 1889. The next dean was Dr. William Lawrence, now 
Bishop of Massachusetts. He was succeeded, upon his election 
as bishop, by the present dean, Dr. George Hodges. 

Of the professors, Dr. Allen and Dr. Steenstra have been 
with the school since the beginning ; and Dr. Nash, Dr. Kellner, 
and Mr. Drown were educated at the school. Dr. Wharton and 
Dr. Mulford, past professors, are remembered by writings 
which still live. The graduates of the school, numbering about 
two hundred, are at work in more than thirty dioceses. The 
average number of men in the school is about fifty. 



THE NEW-CHURCH THEOLOGICAL SCHOOL. 

By REV. THEODORE F. WRIGHT, Ph. U. 

This institution was first suggested at the convention of the 
New- Jerusalem Church in 1866. Up to that time the ministry 
had been supplied almost wholly by accessions from other reli- 
gious bodies, but it was then found that young men were grow- 
ing up with a desire to be thoroughly prepared in a distinctive 
school. Beginning with a summer class, and going, on very 
modestly without a place of its own until 1889, the school 
then took its present position. The commodious residence of 
the late President Sparks was first purchased, and to this the 
Greenough estate was added two years later. The grounds 
thus extend along Quincy Street from Cambridge to Kirkland 
streets, and room is afforded for new buildings. 

The first of these will undoubtedly be a chapel. Services 
have been held in the lower rooms of the Sparks house, and the 
congregation is, for its size, an active one, assisting in all work 
for the moral welfare of Cambridge. A good beginning has 
been made towards the creation of a chapel fund. 

At the time of removal to Cambridge some regret was kindly 
expressed because a separate system of instruction had been 
adopted instead of the endowment of a chair in the Harvard 
Divinity School; but the principles of the New-Jerusalem 
Church are such that a separate school seems to be a practical 
necessity. Thus the sacred Scriptures are held to be fully 
divine, although outwardly adapted to people of the past. 
Again the reality of the spiritual world — a doctrine held in 
connection with utter abhorrence of spiritism — is a funda- 
mental tenet. Neither the Unitarian nor the Trinitarian view 
of the Divine Being is held ; but He is believed to be of one 
person, with the attributes of Father, Son, and Spirit united in 
Him as are the soul, the body, and the outgoing life in man. 
The title " New- Jerusalem " is not used in an exclusive sense, 



258 THE NEW-CHURCH THEOLOGICAL SCHOOL. 

but as descriptive of Christianity freed from the material con- 
ceptions of the past. Emanuel Swedenborg is regarded as a 
divinely authorized interpreter of the Scriptures to the rational 
mind of this age. This interpretation he everywhere rests on 
the basis of science, which, in its essential form, he understood 
before he advanced to philosophy. 

The curriculum of the school is arranged for three years ; 
the Scriptures in the original tongues are studied through the 
course ; the spiritual interpretation of Scripture, the history 
of religion, the New-Church theology, and the work of the 
ministry are the principal subjects of study. 

There are, as yet, no endowed professorships, but the teaching 
is done by persons selected from time to time, for their general 
fitness. The management is in the hands of a board appointed 
by the general convention in the United States. The president 
is the Rev. James Reed of Boston (H. U. 1855) ; the writer 
(H. U. 1866) is in immediate charge, and resides upon the 
Greenough estate. 

Students in residence generally live in the Sparks house, 
which has also two lecture-rooms. Beside the students in Cam- 
bridge, there are some who follow the course in their distant 
homes, especially as a test of their fitness to become regular 
students. 

The school gives its diploma to full graduates ; other stu- 
dents receive a certificate of work performed. 

The funds of the school, like all else in connection with it, 
are merely sufficient for present needs ; but, as the chairman of 
the trustees, Chief Justice Mason, lately said, " Our school is 
not rich, and it is not poor." 

At the time when the Cambridge location was decided upon, 
such generosity as the university has shown was not expected ; 
but the original good reasons for the step have been augmented 
by the general kindness which has been shown to the school by 
all with whom it comes into contact. 



THE ASSOCIATED CHARITIES OF CAMBRIDGE. 

By WILLIAM TAGGARD PIPER. 

The Associated Charities of Cambridge owes its beginning 
to Dr. Charles E. Vaughan, who, being an overseer of the poor, 
and also interested in other benevolent work, saw the need and 
the opportunity for an organization which should investigate 
applications for relief, record the results of such investigation, 
furnish the information thus obtained to those who were en- 
gaged in relief work, and should also endeavor to improve the 
condition of the unfortunate through the suggestions and advice 
of volunteer visitors. 

To carry out all these objects is the aim of the Associated 
Charities, and to form such a society Dr. Vaughan arranged for 
a meeting in the spring of 1881. At a meeting held later a 
committee was formed of which Mr. J. B. Warner was chair- 
man ; Dr. Ephraim Emerton, secretary ; Mr. Henry N. Tilton, 
treasurer ; and the members came from all parts of Cambridge. 
A somewhat more formal organization was made in December 
of that year. Miss S. A. Pear was appointed registrar to record 
and furnish to those interested the facts learned through inves- 
tigation, and an office was provided by the city in the Central 
Square building in Cambridgeport. 

As a necessary complement to the registration, the work of 
visiting those in distress was begun in the spring of 1882, and, 
to enable the visitors to compare their experience and to get the 
advantage of mutual advice, a conference was formed in Old 
Cambridge in April, another in Cambridgeport in May, and 
one in North Cambridge in May, 1884. These have met regu- 
larly twice each month since their organization (except during 
the summer), and have done some remarkably good work. A 
similar conference was formed in East Cambridge in the spring 
of 1894, so that the whole city is now included in the system 
of friendly visiting, so far as the comparatively small number of 
visitors will permit. 



260 THE ASSOCIATED CHARITIES OF CAMBRIDGE. 

The society was incorporated January 16, 1883, and the late 
Dr. A. P. Peabody was chosen president. lie was succeeded 
by Mr. J. B. Warner in October, 1884, and by Rev. E. H. 
Hall in 1891 ; after Mr. Hall's resignation, Rev. Dr. Edward 
Abbott was elected president, and now holds the office. Mr. 
William Taggard Piper succeeded Dr. Emerton as secretary 
in March, 1882, and he was followed in 1889 by Mr. Arthur 
E. Jones, the present secretary. 

Dr. Vaughan performed invaluable service as director until 
his departure for California, in 1895 ; and Mr. John Graham 
Brooks has made his special knowledge in the field of organized 
charity and social questions of great advantage in the enlarge- 
ment of the work now being effected. 

In March, 1883, Mr. J. Watson Harris was appointed paid 
agent of the society with especial reference to the needs of the 
Cambridgeport conference ; after more than twelve years of 
faithful service in this capacity, he resigned in November, 1895. 
Miss Pear's conscientious and valuable labors continued until 
her resignation was accepted in February, 1895. In the fol- 
lowing month Mr. Francis S. Child was installed as general 
secretary, in charge of the central office, where he has worked 
with the utmost devotion for the past year, resigning at its 
close. Miss Mary L. Birtwell, who has been registrar for the 
last six months, succeeds him. Last July the central office 
was removed to 671 Massachusetts Avenue. 

In order to furnish employment to many men who were out 
of work through no fault of their own, a wood-yard was estab- 
lished on Broadway, corner of Brewery Street, and was carried 
on under the supervision of a committee of three directors dur- 
ing the winter of 1893-94. Since those who were citizens could 
be employed by the city, men who had not been naturalized were 
almost the only ones who worked here. The employment pro- 
vided enabled them to earn something for themselves and their 
families, and prevented their receiving alms. This enterprise 
was conducted in cooperation with the Citizens' Relief Com- 
mittee and the Overseers of the Poor, and though, as was ex- 
pected, it did not succeed financially, it accomplished its pur- 
pose industrially. It was decided to provide, during the winter 
of 1895-96, a work test in order to discriminate among those 
who said that they were looking for work, and an opportunity 
for unskilled labor was furnished at the City Sewer Yard. 



IMPOSTORS CIRCUMVENTED. 261 

About one half of those sent to the yard have done the stint 
marked out, and have received in payment a substantial meal. 

In order that persons who ask for food and lodging in the 
evening might be referred to some place where they could be 
cared for if in real need, the central office has been open during 
the winter from eight to nine p. m. 

The Associated Charities will reach its highest efficiency only 
when all benevolent individuals and organizations cooperate 
fully with it, by reporting regularly all applications for relief, all 
that is known about the condition and history of the applicants, 
and the relief given or the decision reached in each case. Then 
can the Associated Charities of Cambridge fulfill the promise 
that every applicant for assistance of any kind, whose case is 
referred to it, will, if his need be genuine, receive relief from a 
single individual or society in the form and amount best suited 
to his circumstances and requirements ; that there will be no 
duplication of relief ; and that impostors will be prevented from 
living on misplaced charity. It must not be forgotten that the 
Associated Charities itself does not give alms, except in the 
most urgent distress, but aims to discriminate among the appli- 
cants, and to see that relief is furnished to those in real need so 
far as the resources of the societies and individuals working in 
harmony with it will allow. 

From the first the cooperation requested has been given by 
the Overseers of the Poor, and to a smaller extent by some of 
the churches and benevolent organizations. The more extensive 
and complete this is, the more satisfactory will be the work that 
the Associated Charities can accomplish ; and under the skillful, 
trained direction of the general secretary, it is confidently ex- 
pected that the cooperation, which has been steadily growing 
the past year, will continue to increase. 

Up to March, 1895, the expenses averaged a little over 
11100 a year, principally for the salaries of the registrar and 
paid agent. Since then the increase in the amount of work 
and the employment of more experienced officials has increased 
the expenditure for salaries, while the cost of rent, printing, 
and postage is much larger, so that it is estimated that from 
83000 to 14000 annually will be required to carry on the work 
satisfactorily. 



THE AVON HOME. 

By WILLIAM TAGGARD PIPER. 

The Avon Home " for children found destitute within the 
limits of Cambridge " was founded by the generosity of a resi- 
dent of Cambridge in accordance with a long-cherished plan. 
It was opened on May 30, 1874, in a house on Avon Place near 
Linnsean Street, which, with its furniture and what was expected 
to be an ample endowment, was transferred to the corporation 
of the Avon Place trustees in November of that year. 

The original board of trustees consisted of Mrs. Henry W. 
Paine, president ; Rev. D. O. Mears, treasurer ; Miss Irene 
P. Sanger, clerk ; and Dr. Andrew P. Peabody, Mrs. Joseph 
Lovering, Mrs. W. T. Richardson, Mrs. Henry Thayer, Mrs. 
J. M. Tyler, and Mrs. B. F. Wyeth. Dr. Peabody succeeded 
Mrs. Paine as president, and at the time of his death in 1893 
was the last one of the original trustees ; Mr. William Taggard 
Piper was chosen to succeed Dr. Peabody. Mrs. John Bartlett 
and Miss Maria Murdoch" respectively followed Miss Sanger as 
clerk, and Mrs. J. M. Tyler and Miss Mary A. Ellis succeeded 
Mr. Mears as treasurer. Four trustees were added in Novem- 
ber, 1875, and in January, 1886, the number was increased to 
seventeen. In 1891 the name of the corporation was changed 
to " The Avon Home." 

The endowment was in the form of securities, which unfortu- 
nately proved to be of little or no value, and soon after the open- 
ing of the Home the trustees were compelled to call on their 
friends for contributions to enable them to carry on this work 
which was so pressing. Their appeal was answered, and it is 
worthy of record that during the whole period of the existence 
of the Home no debt has ever been incurred. In 1878 an ad- 
joining lot on Avon Hill Street was given by the Holly Tree Inn, 
and in the following year the house was enlarged so that from 
twenty-five to thirty children could be accommodated. In 1879 



A FARM IN CONCORD. 263 

a gift of $300 from the Cambridge Horticultural Society was 
received, of which only the income could be spent, and this 
formed the beginning of a permanent fund, which has since 
been increased by legacies and gifts. 

Since it was impossible even to consider more than two thirds 
of the applications for admission, owing to the insufficient accom- 
modations, the trustees, in the autumn of 1889, asked for sub- 
scriptions with which to build a larger and more convenient 
house on Avon Hill Street. Nearly the desired amount had been 
subscribed when some of the friends of the Home, thinking that 
a better situation should be provided, urged that an appeal for 
that purpose should be issued. The result of this was so satis- 
factory that land was purchased on Mount Auburn Street, nearly 
opposite the Cambridge Hospital, and a handsome, commodious 
building was erected large enough to accommodate forty chil- 
dren comfortably. This was completed and occupied in De- 
cember, 1891, and by the sale of the estate on Avon Place in 
the following summer the trustees avoided the possibility of 
any indebtedness. The land, nearly 70,000 square feet, cost 
$13,952.75, and the house 121,740.78 ; a fire-escape was after- 
wards added, making the total cost $36,239.51. 

In 1892 the founder of the Home showed his continued inter- 
est in its prosperity by the gift of a farm of one hundred and 
twenty acres in Concord, Mass., which it is his desire, as it is the 
wish of the trustees, to use for the older boys, where they may 
learn farming and other outdoor occupations, or for the more 
delicate little children, where they may get a change of air. 
At present this cannot be done on account of the great addi- 
tional expense, and the farm is rented. 

The cost of maintenance is now over $5000 a year ; the 
greater part of this is met by the income from the invested 
funds, by the proceeds of fairs, and by the small amount of 
board which is required from those parents who are able to pay 
anything. From annual subscriptions and donations is received 
less than $2000, — not a large amount to be contributed by the 
citizens of Cambridge for the support of the only Home exclu- 
sively for Cambridge children, where no distinction is made 
as to race or religion. The children attend the public schools 
and public kindergarten, go to church regularly, and since the 
number is limited to forty, they are treated in every way as the 
members of a large family. 



264 THE A VON HOME. 

In this attempt the trustees have been ably seconded by the 
remarkable ability of Mrs. Melick, who has been the matron 
since May, 1886, and to her much of the credit for the success- 
ful management of the Home is due. For many years the ladies 
who have served as trustees have given invaluable assistance by 
their unwearied interest and careful attention to all the numer- 
ous details of the institution. 

Three hundred children have been cared for at {he Avon 
Home in the last twenty-two years ; their stay has been for 
different periods, varying from a few days to eight years. 
Some have been foundlings or orphans, for whom after a time 
homes have been provided where they might be adopted and 
brought up as if belonging to the family ; others have been 
surrendered to the trustees and similarly placed. By far the 
largest number have been cared for temporarily during some 
crisis in the family, and when this had passed the parents or 
relatives were able to care for them. 

The children who have stayed at the Home long enough to 
receive much benefit from its influence have all, so far as 
known, turned out well ; one is in California, others nearer 
Cambridge, but most of them are still in the city or the imme- 
diate neighborhood, and all are proving respectable citizens. 



THE PROSPECT UNION. 

By REV. ROBERT E. ELY, President. 

The object of the Prospect Union is to bring as many as 
possible of the advantages of Harvard University within the 
reach of workingmen through evening classes taught by Har- 
vard students, and through lectures by members of the Harvard 
Faculty and other persons. There is in Cambridge, particu- 
larly in Cambridgeport, a large population of wage-earners. In 
Cambridge reside also a large number of Harvard students. 
Students were formerly often regarded with unfriendliness by 
workingmen, and the life of the average wage-earner was quite 
outside the knowledge of the average Harvard student. The 
Prospect Union has attempted to bring students and wage- 
earners into friendly relations, and to get them to understand 
and to help each other. The Union was named from the Pros- 
pect House Building on Massachusetts Avenue near Central 
Square. In this building the Union began its work in January, 
1891, under the leadership of Rev. Robert E. Ely and Pro- 
fessor Francis G. Peabody, of Harvard. Its beginning was so 
small as to be insignificant, but the little group of working- 
men and Harvard students increased rapidly, and there has been 
a constant and encouraging growth ever since. Finally the 
Prospect House no longer afforded adequate room, and a change 
of location was necessary. The old city hall was taken at a 
nominal rental in the fall of 1894, and a year later became the 
property of the Union. This building is well adapted to the 
work now carried on there, and has been renovated recently. 
In it reside the president of the Union and four of his co-labor- 
ers. The Prospect Union, therefore, is not merely a working- 
men's college, but is also something like a " college settlement." 

Classes are held every evening of the week except Wednes- 
day, in a great variety of subjects, ranging from the most ele- 
mentary instruction in the English branches to foreign Ian- 



266 THE PROSPECT UNION. 

guages, ancient and modern, history, political economy, the 
natural sciences, the higher mathematics, drawing, and such 
studies as book-keeping and shorthand. There are also classes 
in music, vocal and instrumental. The teachers of the classes 
are with one or two exceptions Harvard students, who receive 
no pay in money for their services. At present there are nearly 
one hundred of these student-teachers, and their devotion to 
their classes is marked. So great is the interest in the Pros- 
pect Union on the part of the university that there is no diffi- 
culty in finding a plenty of college men to lend their aid, and 
these students are among the men of highest rank in scholar- 
ship and of prominence in other respects in the university. 

The weekly meeting of the Union is held on Wednesday 
evening. At this time there is usually a lecture, often by some 
member of the Harvard Faculty. Lectures have been delivered 
by President Eliot, Professors Charles Eliot Norton, Francis 
G. Peabody, W. W. Goodwin, F. W. Taussig, A. B. Hart, 
G. H. Palmer, and many other members of the Harvard 
Faculty ; also by Colonel Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Rt. 
Rev. William Lawrence, Mr. John Graham Brooks, Rt. Rev. 
J. H. Vincent, Mr. John Fiske, Dean George Hodges, Mrs. 
Julia Ward Howe, Mrs. Lucy Stone, Mrs. Alice Freeman 
Palmer, Miss Vida D. Scudder, Rev. Dr. Lyman Abbott, Rev. 
Dr. Washington Gladden, etc., etc. The lecturers, like the 
teachers, receive no pay for their services in money. 

The Prospect Union is not a charitable institution. Its 
members, who number over six hundred, pay a regular fee of 
three dollars a year or twenty-five cents a month. They are 
workingmen of almost every nationality, and of every shade of 
political and religious belief. The Union rests upon an abso- 
lutely non-sectarian basis ; Catholic and Protestant, Jew and 
Gentile, meet upon a footing of manliness and friendliness. 

The Union is characterized by a spirit of independence and 
yet of kindly feeling of men who differ widely from one an- 
other. There is no element of patronage or condescension on 
the part of the Harvard students, but they meet the members 
of their classes on the basis of a common manhood. Members 
have not only the privileges of the classes and the lectures, but 
also of the reading-room, library, social-room, bath-room, sum- 
mer outings, and various concerts and entertainments. 



AN OLD-TIME SOCIETY. 

By ARTHUR GILMAN. 

The Cambridge Humane Society is one of the most venera- 
ble institutions that our city can boast. It held its eighty- 
first annual meeting in November, 1895, having been founded 
in 1814, apparently by Dr. Abiel Holmes, whose name leads 
the list of subscribers in the book of records which has served 
all the secretaries from that day to the present. In the middle 
of the " heated term," as the degenerate sons of the present 
time speak of the season, the fathers began their beneficent 
labors with an " address " to their fellow-townsmen, dated 
August 11. This address was the consummation of efforts 
begun in February, when a meeting had been held at Por- 
ter's Tavern. " Caleb Gannett, Esq., being chosen chairman, 
it was voted that the subscribers do form a society to be 
known hereafter as The Cambridge Humane Society." The 
next meeting was held at the same hospitable place, July 18, 
Dr. Abiel Holmes being chairman, and a committee, composed 
of " Samuel Bartlett, Esq., & Doct. Tho's Foster," which had 
been appointed in February, " reported the following list of 
articles that they had procured, which were then exhibited to 
the Society, viz. : — 3 Bathing Tubs, 2 Block tin bed-pans, 2 
Block tin pint syringes, 1 Block tin half-pint syringe, 3 urinals, 
and 1 bed-chair." It was determined that these articles should 
be deposited in the hands of a suitable person resident near the 
centre of the town, 1 who should engage to keep them safely, 
and to deliver them to applicants under such conditions as the 
society might adopt. Inhabitants of other towns were not to 
use the articles, " unless they were too remotely situated to 
avail themselves of similar advantages in their own towns," 
from which we are to infer that bath-tubs, etc., were known 

1 The town at that time was but a small portion of the present Ward 
One. Probably there were seven hundred inhabitants. 



268 AN OLD-TIME SOCIETY. 

elsewhere in the vicinity. Every borrower was under bonds 
to return the articles " clean and dry," and in case of competi- 
tion among applicants, it was ruled that the preference should 
be given to indigent persons ; but whoever should be the suc- 
cessful competitor, he was to be fined ten cents for every day 
that he retained the articles beyond the time allowed, which, in 
the case of " the tubs," was one week. 

The first election of officers was held at Porter's Tavern on 
the 24th of August, 1814, when the following were chosen : 
president, Rev. Abiel Holmes, D. D. ; vice-president, Rev. 
Henry Ware, D. D. ; secretary, Levi Farwell ; treasurer, Levi 
Hedge, Esq. ; trustees, Samuel Bartlett, Esq., A. Bigelow, 
Esq., Dr. T. Foster, William Hilliard, and Israel Porter. It 
was when the society had been thus fully equipped with a 
board of officers that the address was issued to the inhabitants. 
It has a somewhat modern air, in spite of its more than modern 
dignity of expression. Let us read : — 

" All are ready to acknowledge," they say, " the great obligations 
we are under as men, and especially as Christians, to supply the wants 
and relieve the sufferings of our brethren ; and so numerous are the 
evils incident to humanity, and so frequent the causes by which their 
number is increased and their pressure aggravated, that the most lib- 
eral and diffusive benevolence can never want objects to engage its 
attention. It must be allowed that active philanthropy forms a promi- 
nent trait in the character of the present day. At no former period 
has there been such extensive and effectual provision, both public and 
private, for the relief of the poor and infirm. Institutions for the pre- 
vention and relief of suffering in all its various forms are continually 
springing up around us, the beneficial effect of which on society and 
great advantages over the occasional exertions of individuals are very 
evident. These advantages, however, must be limited in great meas- 
ure to the particular toAvn in which such institution is founded, hence 
it becomes important that there should be formed in every town an 
institution for extending the blessings of charity to the necessitous. 
Although the liberality of individuals in this place has often been ex- 
tended in no small degree to persons of this description, still it has 
been regretted that there does not exist here an establishment calcu- 
lated to ensure to the necessitous that assistance for which no public 
provision is made, and which the exertions of individuals cannot al- 
ways supply. Should it be objected that the multiplication of chari- 
table institutions serves to increase human calamity, by encouraging 
idleness and vice, the objection will be obviated if due care be taken 



THE FEMALE HUMANE SOCIETY. 269 

in selecting objects and concerting plans of charity. With whatever 
force this objection may be applied to other institutions, it is believed 
to be inapplicable to one intended for the relief of such persons as can- 
not possibly relieve themselves. Of this class of sufferers are the 
indigent sick, whose claims to charity are of all the most urgent, and 
yet least of all admit either deception or abuse. With these views 
and impressions, a number of persons have associated themselves for 
the relief of the indigent sick by the name of The Cambridge Humane 
Society. As the first step towards an object so desirable, they have 
raised by subscription a sufficient sum to procure a few of the most 
requisite articles ; and have presented an address to the Ladies in 
Cambridge, requesting their assistance in procuring for the sick such 
additional articles and such further accommodations as come within 
their peculiar province. 1 In that address they have expressed more 
particularly what they apprehend to be the advantages of an associa- 
tion for charitable purposes which it were superfluous here to repeat, 
but to which they respectfully solicit the attention of the inhabitants 
in general. They indulge the hope that by the cooperation and liber- 
ality of their fellow townsmen the institution may be so matured as to 
embrace such further improvements as experience may suggest." 

Besides the names already mentioned, we find among the 
early members, as we run down the list for the first thirty 
years : J. Mellen, Esq., A. Craigie, Esq., James Mnnroe, 
Sidney Willard, William Hilliard, Esq., Thomas Lee, Esq., 
Samuel Child, Jr., Charles Folsom, Esq., Hon. Joseph Story, 
Stephen Higginson, Esq., Dr. F. J. Higginson, Rev. Thomas 
W. Coit, Jonas Wyeth, Jr., John G. Palfrey, William Newell, 
Nehemiah Adams, R. H. Dana, Ebenezer Francis, Jr., Andrews 
Norton, Alexander PI. Ramsay, Richard M. Hodges, William 
Saunders, J. B. Dana, C. C. Little, Simon Greenleaf, J. E. 
Worcester, John A. Albro, C. C. Felton, Charles Beck, Mor- 
rill Wyman, James Walker, E. S. Dixwell, Converse Francis, 
William T. Richardson, H. W. Longfellow, Edward Everett, 
Asa Gray, Francis Bowen, Joseph Lovering, John Ware, 
John Holmes, Estes Howe, William Greenough, Robert Carter, 
E. N. Horsford, Charles E. Norton. 

Dr. Holmes remained president until his death in 1837, 
when Joseph Story was put in his place, Dr. Ware still re- 
maining vice-president. Levi Hedge (LL. D.) was treasurer 

1 Frequent references to the " Female Humane Society " prove that the 
ladies, still most active in this work, were of the same disposition in the 
early days. — Editor. 



270 AN OLD-TIME SOCIETY. 

until 1831, when, on account of ill-health and expected absence 
from town, he asked to be relieved from the cares of office, and 
a special meeting was called to choose his successor. Dea. 
William Brown was the choice of the society, and he held the 
post for five years, when, in September, 1836, Dr. A. H. Ram- 
say was chosen. He held the office with great acceptance for 
five years. He was again chosen treasurer in 1858, and held 
the office until 1885, when a special meeting was again neces- 
sary to elect his successor, on account of his death. William 
Taggard Piper was then chosen, and he is the present occupant 
of the office. Thus there have been but few treasurers dur- 
ing the life of the society. The thirty-two years of service of 
Mr. Ramsay is a record that it would be difficult to match in 
Cambridge. 

The present officers are : president, Francis J. Child ; secre- 
tary, Arthur Gilman ; treasurer, William Taggard Piper. Mr. 
Gilman has been secretary for the past sixteen years. Dr. Mor- 
rill Wyman has been a member of the society for fifty-five 
years ; Dr. Ramsay had been a member for fifty years at the 
time of his death ; Dr. Palfrey was president for ten years, and 
there have been many other long terms. 

The society continues its career of usefulness in a manner 
but slightly different from that laid down by the founders. It 
collects annually a certain sum, which is distributed by its 
almoner to the destitute with great carefulness, and the original 
principles of charitableness and thorough investigation of every 
case are followed. Among societies of its kind, it is doubtless 
the most venerable in our city. 

It is entertaining, as showing the expression of the feelings 
of beneficence on the part of the fathers, in the village days of 
Cambridge, to look over the records of the society to mark 
on what subjects the thoughts of the members were brought to 
bear. Por example, in 1816 they began to see the necessity 
for more apparatus for the performance of its work, and it was 
voted that an inquiry should be made by the trustees " concern- 
ing a patent bedstead and the machinery pertaining to it, for 
the purpose of raising a sick person from a bed," and they were 
prudently authorized to " procure such a one as in their discre- 
tion may comport with the pecuniary means of the Society." 
In the same year steps were taken to provide, " at the expense 
of the town," a " suitable boat or boats, and apparatus belong- 



DISCUSSING THE BOAT. 271 

ing thereto, to be kept and used for finding, as soon as may be, 
persous drowned." The boat continued to demand a portion 
of the attention of the society at its meetings until 1830, after 
which date — fourteen years from its first appearance — it dis- 
appears from the records. It had been found in 1817 that the 
town was not willing to pay the entire cost of the boat, and it 
was voted that " William Hilliard, Esq., and Cap'n Sam'l Child 
be a committee to procure a suitable boat and appendages to 
the same," with authority to " draw upon the Treasurer for such 
sum as may be necessary, in addition to the sum provided by 
the Selectmen." In August, 1818, this committee reported 
that the object had been accomplished by means of contribu- 
tions of twenty-five dollars each from the town and Harvard 
College, and certain additional sums from those benevolent per- 
sonages, " individuals of the town." Thus, after two years of 
negotiation, the boat had been prepared for its work of ;i find- 
ing, as soon as may be, persons drowned." By 1825, however, 
after seven years of usefulness, as we must suppose, it was dis- 
covered that " the boat " needed repairs, and the trustees were 
requested to put it in order " as soon as may be, and to keep 
it in order, and place it in such situation as shall be safe and 
convenient of access when there may be occasion to use it in 
the service of the Society." A year later the trustees made 
a report on the expediency of repairing the boat, and we can 
only guess that they had discovered that its condition had 
placed it beyond the desirability of repairs, for the society, 
after adjourning for a month, perhaps in order that the mem- 
bers might make personal examination of the boat, voted to 
appropriate fifty dollars for an entirely new one. It was not 
so easy, however, to provide suitable care for the boat, and in 
August, 1829, a committee of three prominent citizens was 
appointed to provide the quarters, which seem still to be unse- 
cured. This committee reported that the best method would be 
to contract with Mr. Emery Willard to care for the boat. The 
advice of the committee was adopted, and the boat seems there- 
after to have been kept by Mr. Willard. It passes from the 
records at least, and was no longer a cause for solicitude. 

The society seems to have been the original Cambridge board 
of health, and in 1817 it commissioned William Hilliard, Esq., 
" to enquire concerning, and to apply to the Selectmen to cause 
to be removed, any nuisances which endanger the health of the 
town." 



272 AN OLD-TIME SOCIETY. 

The society had been formed to aid the " indigent sick," and 
after about nine years of experience, in 1823, a feeling arose 
that perhaps the sphere of action might be widened, and accord- 
ingly a committee was appointed to " enquire whether any por- 
tion of the Society's funds may be appropriated to the use of 
other persons besides the indigent sick." This committee made 
a formal report on this, which seemed to be a constitutional 
question, in the course of which it said : — 

" That upon the organization of the Society, it was considered a 
primary object to obtain such articles, by way of permanent appara- 
tus, as are wanted in cases of sickness, and which with difficulty are 
procured from other sources. To the accomplishment of this object, 
liberal subscriptions were then made. In addition to this, the annual 
assessment of one dollar upon each member of the Society has enabled 
it, from year to year, to make appropriations for the partial relief of 
such cases of poverty, accompanied with sickness, as have come within 
the knowledge of the Trustees. Your Committee would further report, 
that although it was considered a prudent measure in the infant state 
of the Society, to limit its appropriations for relief exclusively to the 
objects contemplated in the Preamble to the Constitution of the So- 
ciety, to wit, ' the indigent sick ; ' yet they consider that there are 
many strong cases, which have and will occur, where the restriction 
operates as a bar against the relief of suffering poverty, although not 
attended with the still greater calamity of sickness. In such cases 
your Committee are of the opinion that the prudent extension of our 
charities might, be made to comport with the benevolent intentions of 
the Society. From these considerations your Committee would rec- 
ommend, that the Constitution be so far altered, that the appropria- 
tions hereafter made by the Society be applied to such persons as the 
Society, or the Trustees thereof, may consider as in a state of suffer- 
ing poverty, although it may not be accompanied with actual sickness." 

Upon these suggestions the society then agreed to act, and 
upon them it still acts, after the lapse of threescore years and 
twelve. 

There is but one more matter that it is necessary to mention 
in the history of this foundation of the fathers. In 1830, at a 
time when the beautiful river Charles was still flowing with 
pure water, a committee was formed to " consider and report on 
the expediency of erecting a bathing-house, in part, or wholly, 
at the expense of the Society, as may be thought desirable." 
The society was not in a hurry, even as late as 1830, and it was 



KING'S BATH-HOUSE. 273 

a year before the committee made its report, and then, on the 
strength of it, a vote was passed authorizing- the treasurer to 
pay to George King one hundred dollars, " whenever said King- 
has erected a convenient bathing-house adjoining to or near the 
old Brighton Bridge, so-called." To this was added the follow- 
ing proviso : " Provided the said King shall make and deliver 
to the Treasurer a written engagement that each of the present 
members of the Society shall be entitled to a season ticket 
for the use of himself and family for the first season after 
the same shall be completed, and that thereafter each present 
member shall be entitled to a season ticket in each succeeding 
year on the following terms, viz. : heads of families on the pay- 
ment of two dollars annually and other members on the pay- 
ment annually of one dollar." This vote made it desirable 
that an authentic list of the members should be on record, 
and accordingly such a list was placed on the books. It is 
as follows: Abiel Holmes, Henry Ware, Levi Farwell, Levi 
Hedge, Israel Porter, E. W. Metcalf, James Munroe, A. Big- 
low, Sidney Willard, William Hilliard, William Brown, T. L. 
Jennison, Asahel Stearns, W. J. Whipple,* Abel Willard,* 
James Brown, Charles Folsom, Joseph Story, Josiali Quincy, 
William Wells, Stephen Higginson, James Hayward, N. J. 
Wyeth, William Watriss,* F. J. Higginson, Joseph Foster, 
Thomas W. Coit, Otis Danforth, John Farrar. Those marked 
with a star are single men. 

It may have seemed to the members that this legislation was 
rather more for the advantage of the members than for that of 
the " sick," indigent, or otherwise, and this may be the reason 
why in the following year it was voted that an appropriation 
for the purchase of tickets for the bath be made, so that five 
dollars' worth might be put in the hands of each of the three 
physicians, " Drs. Timo. L. Jennison, Sylvanus Plympton, and 
Francis J. Higginson," " to be by them from time to time given 
to such individuals as, in the opinion of said physicians, may 
be benefited by their use, and whose circumstances may render 
such an appropriation conformable to the objects of this So- 
ciety." 

During the eighty-one years of the life of the society it has 
had eleven presidents. Dr. Holmes served for the longest 
term, — twenty-three years. He was followed by Professor 
Joseph Story, the distinguished jurist ; Professor Simon Green- 



274 AN OLD-TIME SOCIETY. 

leaf, whose widow, sister of the poet Longfellow, still lives in 
Cambridge ; Hon. John G. Palfrey, the historian ; William M. 
Vaughan, the late revered founder of the Social Union ; and 
later, by Dr. Francis Greenwood Peabody, Plummer Professor 
in Harvard College ; Dr. Joseph H. Allen, the late Samuel 
Batchelder ; and the present head of the society, Professor Fran- 
cis J. Child. 



EAST END CHRISTIAN UNION. 

In October, 1875, Mr. W. G. Clapp began missionary work 
in the easterly part of Cambridgeport, and established the next 
year a Sunday-school, which gradually increased. In order to 
build a suitable hall for the enlarging work, a fair was held in 
1888, and about $2000 was raised. The present corporation 
was formed in 1889. Mr. John H. Walker became superin- 
tendent of the Sunday-school in 1890. The building was 
erected in 1891 at a cost of about 14000, and is free from debt. 
In September, 1892, it was decided that the Union should be 
kept open day and evening, and that a superintendent should be 
employed to devote his whole time to the work at the building 
and in the neighborhood. Mr. Walker was secured to fill this 
position, and the result has been a steady increase of the useful- 
ness of the Union. In January, 189G, a gymnasium, bath-room, 
and workshop were established in the adjacent building. 

The Union building is located on Brewery Street, in Cam- 
bridgeport, between Main and Washington streets, and near 
their junction. There is a large hall, and in it, and in three 
smaller rooms, most of the classes are held. The superintend- 
ent cooperates with the Associated Charities. All cases of 
need are immediately provided for. 

The front room on the first floor is well supplied with reading 
matter. There is also a lending library of one thousand vol- 
umes. Visitors are always welcomed. 

The new rooms at the corner of Main Street accommodate the 
gymnasium, bath-room, and workshop, which are open after- 
noon and evening. The Triangle Club of the Union, consisting 
of boys divided into senior and junior members, makes use of 
these rooms. 

The officers at present are : president, Rev. T. F. Wright, 
42 Quincy Street ; vice-president, Rev. Alexander McKenzie, 
12 Garden Street ; treasurer, Frederick W. Rogers, 5 Craigie 
Street ; secretary, Miss Helen L. Bayley, 133 Austin Street. 



THE CAMBRIDGE HOSPITAL. 

By DR. MORRILL WYMAN. 

Cambridge has not been wanting in its charities even in its 
earliest times. The Church, which was then the State, charged 
itself with the care of the sick poor. Some were aided, in a 
small way to be sure, in their own houses. Dr. Paige in his 
history gives us a list of charges, quaintly expressed, from which 
it appears that Brother Towue has £1 toward his expenses in 
sickness ; Sister Banbrick, being sick, " had a breast of mut- 
ton ; " Sister Albone 71bs. of venison, some physic, and a bottle 
of sack, and brother Sill four quarts of sack for his refreshment 
in times of " fayntness." Others were " aided in supply of 
their manifold necessyties." About 1C63 the care of the poor 
passed into the hands of the town, and for a hundred years after 
the poor were cared for by the selectmen in private families. 
In 1779 the first workhouse and almshouse was opened on the 
corner of Boylston and South streets. This proving unsatis- 
factory, soon another was built on the corner of North Avenue 
and Cedar Street, and called the Poor's House. Here, for 
the first time, were appointed overseers of the poor, distinct 
from the selectmen, who were charged with providing every- 
thing necessary for the support of the poor, and the appoint- 
ment of a physician. This served the purpose till 1818, when 
a third was built in the square bounded by Harvard, Norfolk, 
Austin, and Prospect streets. In 1836 this last was burned 
with one of its wretched inmates. Then followed a larger and 
much better building of brick on the banks of Charles River, 
where the Riverside Press now stands. It was well arranged 
and well managed, and some parts of the building still remain. 
This beautiful spot was abandoned in 1849 for the present stone 
structure in the northwest corner of the city, adjoining the 
Somerville line. 

Besides the public provisions for the sick poor, other chari- 



MISS EMILY E. PARSONS. 277 

ties have been created in Cambridge by bequests and gifts. 
That of John Foster for the poor of the First Parish ; of Levi 
Bridge under the care of the overseers for the time being, to 
be expended for the deserving poor of Cambridge ; of Daniel 
White for fuel ; of Charles Sanders, of Cambridge, the income 
of -$10,000 for the prevention of intemperance and the reclaim- 
ing of inebriates, and again of the same Charles Sanders a trust 
of $400,000 in aid of objects and purposes of benevolence or 
charity, public or private, a part of which is annually distrib- 
uted in Cambridge. To these we must add the charities of 
the churches, the Cambridge Humane Society, the Avon Home 
for Children, and of individuals, a constantly flowing stream, 
the sjn'ings of which are known only to individuals. The 
amount of these charities it is impossible to determine. 

But these aids, as a little reflection will show, do not meet 
the wants for which hospitals are built. Although the sick in 
the almshouses are accommodated with a hospital-room, and 
receive all the attention and kindly care possible under the cir- 
cumstances, it is after all a poorhouse. It is a mingling of 
those who have become sick through no fault of their own with 
the vicious, the degraded, those who have lost their citizenship, 
and even the criminal. Reason or philosophize about it as we 
may, the very idea of going to an almshouse carries with it a 
sense of degradation. It is no place for honest, well-intentioned 
persons who only ask our aid when sick or disabled. 

With all the aid afforded by the churches, by bequests, by 
the trusts we have just enumerated, and by individuals, and all 
that the city, through the overseers of the poor and its medical 
officer, may give, this charity, so far as regards the relief of the 
sick poor, must of necessity be imperfect. The surroundings 
of the sick, upon which so much depends, can be but slightly 
improved by gifts of money, the prescribed medicines may not 
be got or, if got, not properly administered ; nursing may be 
entirely wanting. Thus money will be wasted, and either the 
whole attempt fail for want of organization, or become a most 
expensive, unsatisfactory form of charity. 

With a strong feeling that something could be done to im- 
prove this state of things, Miss Emily E. Parsons, a benevolent 
lady of Cambridge, who had with great acceptance served two 
years as nurse in the army hospitals in Fort Schuyler and on 
the Mississippi, during the War of the Rebellion, opened in 



278 THE CAMBRIDGE HOSPITAL. 

Cambridge, in 18G7, with the aid of generous individuals, a 
hospital for women and children. It was kept open a year, and 
then closed for want of a house. It was reopened in 1869. 

On the 13th of February, 1871, the Cambridge Hospital for 
sick and disabled persons was incorporated. Early in 1872 it 
became evident, by reason of a lack of interest in the commu- 
nity, that the hospital could no longer be kept open and, with 
the approval of Miss Parsons, it was closed May 1, 1872. It is 
due to this warm-hearted, energetic woman to declare that her 
interest in the hospital never flagged, and the hope never ceased 
that the day would come when the dearest wish of her heart 
would be realized. 

In December, 1873, Mr. Isaajc Fay bequeathed to the hospi- 
tal f 10,000, with the restriction that it should be used only for 
the erection of buildings. This generous bequest thus restricted 
was carefully invested. In 1881, nine years after the hospital 
had been closed, Cambridge having been increased by 20,000 
inhabitants, the necessity for it became more and more appar- 
ent. We were sending more than 100 patients annually to a 
single Boston hospital. Interest in the cause was renewed, and 
by liberal gifts, and especially by a " Fair " held by the ladies 
of Cambridge in December of the same year, #12,000 were 
added to its funds. These funds were still further increased 
by many gifts during the following two years. Mr. Fay's 
bequest had now reached $ 18,000. 

The hospital inclosure contains nine and one third acres. 
The soil is dry, gravelly, and sandy. The surface upon which 
the buildings stand is about twenty-five feet above the level of 
the river, and sufficiently distant from its bank. It is well 
raised above the crown of Mount Auburn Street. It has a water 
front of 500 feet. On the opposite side of the river is a park 
or meadow of seventy acres, given by Professor Longfellow 
and others to Harvard College " to be held by the grantees 
as marshes, meadows, gardens, public walks, or ornamental 
grounds, or as the site of college buildings not inconsistent with 
these uses." Facing the south, the wards have the full influence 
of the sun, and a free course for the very desirable southwestern 
breezes of summer. The river front effectually prevents all 
dust from that quarter. In process of time the number of 
wards must be increased, and for this purpose all the nine acres 
of area may be required. 



ITS ANNUAL COST. 279 

The buildings of the hospital consist of a central or adminis- 
tration building, two separate wards, one for men and one for 
women, and a separate building for the care of cases of con- 
tagious disease. 

The hospital was opened for the reception of patients in 1886, 
and since that time nearly 3000 sick persons have been cared for 
within its wards. When full the hospital has accommodations 
for fifty patients. The buildings and land have cost more than 
$100,000. 

The annual cost for maintenance of the establishment has 
been for the past few years nearly #20,000, a sum of money 
considerably beyond the income of the invested funds of the 
institution ; the deficit is made good by the gifts of the people 
of Cambridge. 



FREEMASONRY IN CAMBRIDGE. 

By HENRY ENDICOTT, 

PAST GRAND MASTER OF THE GRAND LODGE OF MASSACHUSETTS. 

The history of Freemasonry in Cambridge begins with the 
organization of Amicable Lodge, for which the preliminary 
steps were taken as early as February 6, 1805. Even at this 
early period Masonry held an honored place in the community. 
It had been of importance still earlier, in the days of the Revo- 
lution, and had assisted materially in the struggle which trans- 
formed a group of dependent colonies into a nation. The 
quarter-century which had passed since the surrender of Corn- 
wallis had not obliterated the memory of those days when Wash- 
ington was at the head of a lodge, and when Joseph Warren, 
Paul Revere, and other Revolutionary heroes were accustomed 
to meet at the Bunch of Grapes Tavern and talk of freedom as 
a Masonic principle. 

The Masonic Association, which was inaugurated in Cam- 
bridge by eighteen brethren on the 6th of February, 1805, was 
known at first as the Aurora Society. Meetings were held at 
Hovey's Tavern, on the southwest corner of Main and Douglass 
streets. The original call included a statement of purpose 
signed by Daniel Warren, Asa Ellis, Benjamin Bigelow, Charles 
Parks, Nathaniel Livermore, Isaac Barnard, Nathaniel R. 
Whitney, Jr., Nathan Crane, Samuel Albee, John Wheeler, 
Andrew Adams, Luke Hemenway, Elijah Learned, Nathan 
Fiske, Salmon Morton, Ebenezer Watson, Daniel Smith, and 
William Warren. This list includes many well-known Cam- 
bridge names. In accordance with this call, the first meeting 
was held on the 9th of February, and soon after by-laws were 
adopted and officers elected. The by-laws provided that not 
more than seven new members should be admitted : that meet- 
ings should be held every Wednesday evening in " Mr. Hovey's 



AMICABLE LODGE. 281 

southeast chamber," and be adjourned at half past nine o'clock ; 
that officers should be elected once in eight weeks ; and that a 
unanimous vote should be necessary for the election of new 
members. Andrew Adams was the first Master, Nathan Crane 
and Elijah Learned the first wardens. The petition for a char- 
ter was approved by Columbian Lodge of Boston, and was 
presented to the Grand Lodge on June 10 of the same year. 
After a trial of four months the name Aurora seems to have 
proved unsatisfactory, and the petition prayed for a charter 
under the name of Oriental Lodge. As this name had been pre- 
empted by another Massachusetts Lodge, it was finally decided 
to take the name Amicable, one which has been proved to be 
not unfitting. By this time six new members had been ad- 
mitted, James Fillebrown, Joseph Ayres, Richard Bordman, 
Benjamin Grover, Samuel Cutler, and Benjamin Bowers ; and 
one of the original signers, Ebenezer Watson, had dropped out. 
The ceremonies attendant upon the consecration of the lodge 
and the installation of its officers were held on St. John's Day, 
June 24, 1806, when the Grand Lodge attended, an oration was 
delivered, and a banquet served. 

Before securing a permanent home for itself, the lodge met 
in several different halls, both in Harvard Square and in Cam- 
bridgeport. Bordman's Hall, on the west corner of Dunster 
Street and Harvard Square, long ago torn down, Porter's Hall 
on Brighton Street, Cutler's Hall in Cambridgeport, blown down 
in the memorable September gale of 1815, all provided it with 
temporary shelter for longer or shorter periods. In 1818 it fitted 
up rooms in the second story of the Franklin Street schoolhouse, 
which remained its home for twenty years. This schoolhouse, 
which was built in 1809 on a lot of land given to the city by 
Judge Dana, was sold in 1853 and removed from the city. 

The ten years from the time of fitting up these rooms for 
permanent use to the year 1828 afforded opportunity for 
steady growth. To quote the words of Dr. Paige, our venera- 
ble historian, to whom every gleaner in these fields must ac- 
knowledge his great indebtedness, " Its meetings were well 
attended, its treasury well supplied, and its officers energetic 
and among the most respected and influential citizens." A 
curious arrangement was made with the town in 1825, in ac- 
cordance with which the lodge bought land adjoining the Frank- 
lin School lot, and fitted up on it the old Baptist vestry, to be 



282 FREEMASONRY IN CAMBRIDGE. 

used by the town as a schoolhouse, in exchange for a lease of 
the lodge-rooms. 

The anti-Masonic excitement, which began in New York 
State, reached Cambridge in full force about the year 1828. 
Looking back on those days, it is difficult to understand the 
extent of the disturbance, or to comprehend the causes which 
led to such bitter and unreasoning opposition. In Massachu- 
setts, as elsewhere, the persecution was " carried into all the 
relations of social life ; the ties of kinship and of friendship 
were rudely severed ; the springs of sympathy were dried up ; 
confidence between man and man was destroyed ; members of 
the Masonic institution were broken up in their business, denied 
the lawful exercise of their civil franchise, driven with ignominy 
from public offices, from the jury box, and from the churches, 
subjected to insult, injury, and contumely in their daily walks." 
Thus wrote Charles W. Moore, the author of two celebrated 
documents addressed to the public, which are said to have 
proved the final deathblow to anti-Masonry in this State. 

Amicable Lodge maintained its ground, though with some 
difficulty, for about ten years. In that time only a single 
candidate was initiated ; many members naturally lost courage, 
and meetings were necessarily held less often and at irregular 
intervals. In 1838 it was decided to dispose of the funds and 
to dissolve the organization. It was the intention of the mem- 
bers to convey their property to the town for charitable pur- 
poses, insisting, however, that the name "Masonic Charity 
Fund " should be perpetuated. In detail the conditions were 
as follows : — 

1. That the town shall pay interest annually on the amount 
of the Fund at the rate of six per ceut. per annum. 

2. That the interest arising from the Fund shall be annually 
paid out upon application to such past or present members of 
Amicable Lodge, or their immediate families, as the Selectmen 
for the time being shall consider objects of charity. 

3. That the interest unappropriated as above, at the end of 
each year, shall be added to and form a part of the permanent 
Fund. 

4. That when the amount of the Permanent Fund shall have 
accumulated to the sum of five thousand dollars, the Selectmen 
for the time being shall annually distribute the interest, in such 
manner as they shall deem proper, to any residents of the 



GROWTH AND PROSPERITY. 283 

Town of Cambridge not public paupers, whom they may con- 
sider worthy objects of charity. 

5. That the Fund be called the Masonic Charity Fund. 

Fortunately for the Masons, as it eventually proved, this 
offer was not accepted, owing to the violence of the distrust, 
which showed itself in many forms of opposition. The money 
was therefore kept in the hands of private parties, and later it 
formed the nucleus of the present charity fund of the lodge. 

The storm gradually subsided, as the element of politics 
was eliminated from it, and common-sense once more resumed 
its authority in Cambridge as elsewhere. After an interval of 
seven years and a half, a petition for the restoration of the 
charter was signed by eleven members of the lodge as it stood 
in 1838, to which were added the signatures of other brethren, 
who thus declared their interest in the reorganization, and 
their purpose to support the lodge. On the 27th of December, 
1845, the charter was restored to Isaac Livermore, Isaiah Bangs, 
Nathaniel Livermore, Thomas F. Norris, Jacob H. Bates, John 
Edwards, Jonathan Hyde, Charles Tufts, John Chamberlin, 
Nathaniel Munroe, and Emery Willard. At the first meeting 
when the lodge was organized for business, several new mem- 
bers were elected, and one of them, Lucius R. Paige, was 
elected Master. Simon W. Robinson, the Grand Master of 
the Grand Lodge, installed the officers. From that time there 
has been no break in the regular meetings and proper business 
of the lodge. 

After the reorganization, meetings were held in the hall of 
Friendship Lodge of Odd Fellows, on Main Street, nearly 
opposite Pearl Street, and this hall was used until its destruc- 
tion by fire in 1854, when Amicable Lodge removed with the 
Odd Fellows to Friendship Hall on Pearl Street, between 
Green and Franklin streets. In 1866 their present commodi- 
ous apartments were fitted up on Main Street, now Massachu- 
setts Avenue, No. 685. 

On the 18th of October, 1855, a semi-centennial address was 
delivered to the lodge by Rev. Lucius R. Paige. At that time 
Amicable Lodge numbered only sixty-two members. At the 
seventy-fifth anniversary, J. Warren Cotton was the orator of 
the occasion, and announced the number of members as 206, 
notwithstanding the loss of forty members, who had transferred 
their immediate allegiance to Putnam, Mount Olivet, and Miz- 



284 FREEMASONRY IN CAMBRIDGE. 

pah Lodges. The present number, as reported for the year 
ending August 31, 1895, is 253. 

It has seemed desirable to dwell thus on the early history of 
Amicable Lodge, since it is one in which all the lodges of the 
city are equally interested. It antedates the earliest of the 
remaining lodges by nearly fifty years, — years marked by 
unusual vicissitudes in Masonic institutions everywhere, — and 
it still remains the largest of the five now in existence. Of 
these, Putnam Lodge, of East Cambridge, numbering now 159 
members according to the report of August 31, 1895, was 
chartered in 1854 ; Mount Olivet Lodge was chartered in 1863, 
and reports 151 members ; Mizpah was chartered in 1868, and 
has 180 members ; Charity Lodge, dating from 1870, has 101 
members. The Cambridge Royal Arch Chapter was chartered 
in 1864, and Cambridge Commandery of Knights Templar 
in 1890. 

Freemasonry in Cambridge owes much to Rev. Lucius R. 
Paige, who has had an interesting Masonic history. As the 
natural result of early elections and of a very long life (Dr. 
Paige is now in his ninety-fifth year), he is the senior Past Mas- 
ter of Masons in Massachusetts, the senior Past Commander 
of Knights Templar in the State and probably in the United 
States. It is eminently fitting that any memorial of Freema- 
sonry in Cambridge should contain affectionate tribute to one 
who championed this cause when it most needed friends, and 
who has always brought to its service unwavering fidelity, 
steady judgment, and unusual ability. 



ODD-FELLOWSHIP IN CAMBRIDGE. 

By REV. GEORGE W. BIC KNELL, D. D. 

Of the many fraternal organizations which exist among- us, 
none occupies a more commanding and reputable position 
than that of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. From its 
early inception in this country — seventy-seven years ago — it 
has steadily gained in strength and popularity, until now it is 
one of the most powerful, numbering over one million two hun- 
dred thousand members. While it is a secret society, yet its 
good works are so manifest, and, in a public way, it has so 
moved in and among the people, that, with its evident and 
demonstrated intent to bless mankind, it seems to be of and 
for the world. 

The Order was first founded in England in the eighteenth 
century, although its principles were entirely different from 
those adopted at its organization in the United States. The 
first American lodge was instituted in Baltimore, Maryland, 
April 26, 1819. Its primary avowed purpose to cultivate socia- 
bility among its select few rapidly changed into assuming new 
responsibilities and prosecuting new lines of work. It adopted 
as its motto, "Friendship, Love, and Truth," and as its aim, to 
adapt these principles to every-day life. Hence it has made its 
labor practical. Fidelity to the laws of God, the laws of the 
State, and to all the duties of citizenship, is strictly enjoined. 
It seeks to assist brothers when in need, to minister to the sick 
and suffering, to alleviate distress by personal presence, to exert 
an uplifting influence by which character may be better un- 
folded and a richer manhood secured, and with a pure bro- 
therly interest and affection such as its principles inculcate, to 
afford protection and helpfulness to the widows and orphans of 
deceased brothers. Vast sums of money have been expended 
by the Order in the ways indicated. More than money, how- 
ever, has been the ministration of love's helpfulness, the posi- 



286 ODD-FELLOWSHIP IN CAMBRIDGE. 

tive assurance of a strong heart-sympathy when needed, which 
has a tendency to warm and quicken men towards distress and 
suffering everywhere. Odd-Fellowship does not endeavor to 
take the place of any other organization for manly and Chris- 
tian work ; but it seeks to supplement and augment that work, 
which is stronger for its organization and activity. 

The Order consists of the Lodge, Encampment, and Daugh- 
ters of Rebekah, " the last being adopted by the Grand Lodge 
of the United States for the use of ladies legally connected with 
subordinate lodges by male membership." 

Cambridge has six subordinate Lodges, two Encampments, 
and two Rebekah Lodges, all active, and supported by an ear- 
nest and enthusiastic membership numbering over two thousand. 
They are as follows : — 

New England Lodge, No. 4, instituted July 21, 1827, 274 
members ; Friendship Lodge, No. 20, instituted September 26, 
1843, 365 members ; Mount Auburn Lodge, No. 94, instituted 
October 15, 1845, 113 members ; Cambridge Lodge, No. 13, 
instituted September 2, 1874, 240 members ; Mount Sinai 
Lodge, No. 169, instituted September 23, 1874, 205 members ; 
Dunster Lodge, No. 220, instituted July 11, 1893, 184 mem- 
bers ; New England Encampment, No. 34, instituted October 
3, 1865, 149 members ; Charles River Encampment, No. 22, 
instituted September 1, 1846, 176 members ; Olive Branch 
Rebekah Lodge, No. 21, instituted March 13, 1874, 143 mem- 
bers ; Amity Rebekah Lodge, No. 15, instituted June 29, 1871, 
189 members. 

Friendship Lodge celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in 1893 
at Union Hall, which was one of the most elaborate and 
largely attended celebrations of any organization in the history 
of our city. 

Two large and handsome buildings, one in Cambridgeport, 
the other in North Cambridge, have been erected for the use of 
the Order. 



THE GRAND ARMY IN CAMBRIDGE. 

By JOHN D. BILLINGS. 

If faith is to be judged by works, then must the faith of 
those who regard Cambridge as one of the most patriotic of 
towns find abundant justification. The history of the settle- 
ment, from its earliest beginning, is rich in testimony to this 
point. Every page is illumined with patriotic achievement or 
endeavor, the somewhat limited patriotism of the village expand- 
ing into a broader regard for the colony and State, and later 
comprehending the whole country. 

While the patriotic spirit should mark every department 
of civil life, it is to affairs martial that we are prone to turn 
for its most conspicuous illustrations, and turning in that direc- 
tion the generations of this city to-day have inspiring ideals 
set before them, inciting them to still higher endeavor. Every 
call for men to defend colonial interests or national integrity 
has met in Cambridge a most prompt and generous response. 
No better proof of this statement can be adduced than is shown 
by her contribution of men to serve in the armies of the Revo- 
lution, aggregating in number one fourth of her entire popula- 
tion. And when the Union was threatened, 'in 1861, her 
promptness and patriotism were conspicuous, for, as is well 
known, the first volunteer company of the war was raised in 
this city, and her total enrollment in the various arms of the 
service equaled one sixth of her population, — a showing, it is 
confidently believed, which has few parallels and no superiors 
among municipalities in the State. 

After the enemies of the Union had been overthrown, the 
conquering legions returning to their homes were confronted 
with a new duty which they had scarcely anticipated, yet one 
which they took up with characteristic promptness. It was the 
care of those men who, having borne the brunt of battle, had 
come home crippled for life ; the care of the widowed and 



288 THE GRAND ARMY IN CAMBRIDGE. 

the orphaned ; the aid of such as found their places in the 
workshop and the factory rilled by others. The men who lived 
to fight it out were not willing to have their comrades who had 
touched elbows with them in the thick of the fray finish a pain- 
ful existence in the almshouse, or stand with extended palm at 
a street corner. They believed that a grateful country would 
keep its promises with these men whenever an organized move- 
ment was set on foot in their behalf. So the Grand Army of 
the Republic was born, and once fairly established and cut 
loose from all political entanglements, found its mission clearly 
defined and pressing for attention. 

Massachusetts stands tenth in the order of States to enlist 
in the ranks of this organization. Perhaps no one of the earlier 
posts entered into the spirit of the new order more heartily 
than did John A. Andrew Post 15 of Boston, and no Post, 
it is believed, had so large a suburban membership. A nat- 
ural outgrowth of this situation, as the order became popular, 
was the withdrawal of members from the suburbs to establish 
new Posts in their own towns or villages. Such a withdrawal 
occurred under the enthusiastic lead of the late Captain J. 
Warren Cotton. Thus Post 30 was founded. It took the 
name of William H. Smart, an estimable Cambridge soldier, 
the first of her long list of martyrs in the war. The pre- 
liminary meetings were held at the house of Mr. Cotton, on 
Austin Street, and the following names appear on the char- 
ter, which was granted October 23, 1867, by Grand Commander 
Austin S. Cushman : J. Warren Cotton, J. A. Hildreth, E. G. 
Dike, A. C. Wellington, A. M. Lunt, F. A. Lull, David P. 
Muzzey, H. O. Marcy, Charles Munroe, Jonas P. Capelle. Of 
these, all but four had been members of Post 15. The Post 
was instituted at Friendship Hall on Pearl Street, where it sub- 
sequently made headquarters for many years. 

The first roster of officers of the Post was as follows : Com- 
mander, J. Warren Cotton ; Senior Vice-Commander, Jonas F. 
Capelle ; Junior Vice-Commander, David P. Muzzey ; Adju- 
tant, Austin C. Wellington ; Quartermaster, Frederick A. 
Lull : Chaplain, H. O. Marcy. The commander appointed 
Edward G. Dike, Officer of the Day ; J. A. Hildreth, Officer of 
the Guard ; Charles Munroe, Musician ; Alphonso M. Lunt, Sen- 
tinel. 

About 680 veterans have been mustered into the Post ; of 




Soldiers' Monument, Cambridge Common. 



CHARLES BECK. 289 

these, 82 have died. January 1, 1896, its membership in good 
standing was 231. Its estimated expenditure for relief work of 
various kinds is $18,000 ; the following are the officers of 1896 : 
Commander, George A. Dietz ; Senior Vice-Commander, B. 
F. Hastings ; Junior Vice-Commander, William Gallagher ; 
Surgeon, Charles J. Collins ; Chaplain, John G. Ellis ; Officer 
of the Day, G. W. Belcher ; Adjutant, James B. Soper ; Quar- 
termaster, George H. Hastings ; Officer of the Guard, James 
E. Hill ; Sergeant-Major, Amos D. Jarvis ; Quartermaster-Ser- 
geant, Richard M. O'Brien. Partly through disappointments 
resulting from an election of officers, but largely through local 
desire to have Posts established in other sections of the city, 
then less compact than now, two withdrawals from the Post 
occurred, having in view the formation of Posts in Old Cam- 
bridge and East Cambridge. 

Post 56 of Old Cambridge was the first of these to receive 
a charter. It bears the date June 26, 1868, and the signature 
of A. B. R. Sprague as Grand Commander. The name Charles 
Beck was adopted in honor of a worthy citizen who had been a 
professor in Harvard College at one time. Too old to enlist 
himself, he spent time and money in obtaining recruits for the 
service, and generously contributed to the comfort of the men 
in the field. He was a thoroughly loyal and large-hearted cit- 
izen. The following were the charter members of the Post: 
Edward G. Dike, Charles Munroe, Henry L. Mitchell, Ste- 
phen S. Harris, George H. Prior, Charles H. Bate, George A. 
Cole, James A. Munroe, J. A. Hildreth, Lemuel Pope, Samuel 
K. Williams, A. P. Clarke. 

The post elected the following as its first officers : Com- 
mander, Edward G. Dike ; Senior Vice-Commander, Lemuel 
Pope ; Junior Vice-Commander, J. S. Winkley ; Adjutant, 
Henry L. Mitchell ; Quartermaster, Stephen S. Harris ; Sur- 
geon, A. P. Clarke ; Chaplain, David B. Muzzey ; Officer of the 
Day, J. A. Munroe ; Sergeant-Major, E. C. Coombs ; Quarter- 
master-Sergeant, Nathaniel Munroe ; Musician, Charles Munroe. 

The Post bears on its rolls the names of more than 400 vet- 
erans. Sixty-two have died. Its present membership is 128. 
It has expended a large amount in relief work. Its present 
officers are these : Commander, A. H. Ricker ; Senior Vice- 
Commander, T. J. Breen ; Junior Vice-Commander, F. J. 
O'Reilly ; Adjutant, A. W. Glidden ; Quartermaster, William 



290 THE GRAND ARMY IN CAMBRIDGE. 

N. Eveleth ; Surgeon, Matthias Fleck ; Chaplain, A. W. Cur- 
tis ; Officer of the Day, M. C. Beedle ; Officer of the Guard, 
A. J. Littlefield ; Sergeant-Major, M. J. Corny ; Quartermas- 
ter-Sergeant, George W. Warren. 

P. Stearns Davis Post 57 of East Cambridge was chartered 
June 29, 18G8, by Grand Commander Sprague. It was named 
iu honor of the lamented colonel of the Thirty-Ninth Massachu- 
setts Volunteer Infantry, who had been a resident of that ward, 
and lost his life in the field before Petersburg. These names 
appear on the charter : A. M. Lunt, Robert L. Sawin, John 
T. Wilson, Jonas F. Capelle, I. M. Bennett, C. F. Blaisdell, A. 
F. Fifield, James A. Grant, John H. Blair, Albert L. Norris, 
Oliver H. Webber, John Ford, Henry C. Hobbs, Otis S. 
Brown, Jeremiah W. Coveney, Thomas Mclntire, Jr. 

July 10 the Post was mustered by J. Warren Cotton, and 
the following-named comrades chosen officers : Commander, 
Robert L. Sawin ; Senior Vice-Commander, J. H. Blair ; Adju- 
tant, A. M. Lunt ; Quartermaster, T. J. Mclntire ; Surgeon, 
A. L. Norris ; Sergeant-Major, O. S. Brown. At subsequent 
meetings C. H. Mclntire, Jr., was made Junior Vice-Commander, 
George Graves, Jr., Chaplain, and John Ford Quartermaster- 
Sergeant. 

The Post bears on its rolls 462 names ; 91 comrades have 
deceased. It has expended over $11,000 in its relief work. It 
now numbers 129 members. Its present officers are : Com- 
mander, T. I. Quinn ; Senior Vice-Commander, Andrew Metzger ; 
Junior Vice-Commander, F. O. Mansfield ; Surgeon, Andrew 
Burke ; Officer of the Day, William Voit ; Adjutant, John Don- 
elan ; Quartermaster, John S. Kenney ; Officer of the Guard, 
John Gilligan ; Chaplain, T. H. Ball ; Sergeant-Major, M. F. 
Davlin ; Quartermaster-Sergeant, Peter B. Haley. 

Late in 1886 Mr. John D. Billings, then a member of E. 
W. Kinsley Post 113 of Boston, aided by Captain John S. 
Sawyer and Lieutenant John H. Webber, obtained signatures 
for a new Post in Cambridge. The application for a charter 
was signed largely by men who, for various reasons, had never 
joined the order, and by a few who had dropped out of it. A 
preliminary meeting was held in St. George's Hall, Hyde's 
Block, Main Street, Thursday evening, January 6, 1887, when 
the name of John A. Logan was agreed upon for the new 
organization, that distinguished general having recently de- 



THE WOMAN'S RELIEF CORPS. 291 

ceased. The meeting nominated a list of officers. January 13 
a charter was granted to John A. Logan Post 186 by Depart- 
ment Commander Richard F. Tobin. The following officers 
were elected and installed : Commander, John D. Billings ; 
Senior Vice-Commander, John S. Sawyer ; Junior Vice-Com- 
mander, James G. Harris ; Surgeon, Charles E. Vaughan ; Ad- 
jutant, W. P. Brown ; Quartermaster, Thomas Pear ; Officer of 
the Day, D. Webster Bullard : Officer of the Guard, Emery J. 
Packard; Sergeant-Major, James E. .Hall; Quartermaster-Ser- 
geant, J. H. Robinson ; Chaplain, W. A. Start. 

This Post, though so young, bears on its rolls 128 names. 
Fifteen veterans have deceased. Its present membership is 96. 
It has expended about $ 1500 in relief work. Its present officers 
are these : Commander, Joseph T. Batcheller ; Senior Vice- 
Commander, Samuel Spink ; Junior Vice-Commander, Fred. A. 
Libbey ; Surgeon, Marshall L. Brown ; Adjutant, William P. 
Bi'own ; Quartermaster, Thomas Pear; Chaplain, J. Willard 
Brown ; Officer of the Day, Thomas Allan ; Officer of the 
Guard, George E. Seward ; Sergeant-Major, G. W. B. Litch- 
field ; Quartermaster-Sergeant, George B. Smith. 

Each of the Posts has an associate membership connected with 
it, and all but Post 186 have an organization of the Woman's 
Relief Corps as an auxiliary. The Posts hold occasional camp- 
fires, have lectures, and in various ways aim to keep alive the 
fraternal spirit, and by fairs and divers forms of entertainment 
replenish their relief funds whenever necessary, loyally and 
generously supported in their work by their fellow-citizens, to 
whom they have never yet appealed in vain. 



KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS. 

By EBEN W. PIKE. 

St. Omer, Lodge, No. 9, Knights of Pythias, received its 
charter April 11, 1884, and with a list of nearly 100 names 
entered upon the work of the order. For twelve years it has 
done a large amount of charitable work in this city, and to-day, 
with a membership of over 200, ranks among the first in the 
grand domain of Massachusetts. 

Recognizing as it does the universality of human brother- 
hood, and embracing the world within its jurisdiction, its funda- 
mental principles are solely for the cultivation of friendship, 
charity, and benevolence. Nothing of a sectarian or political 
character has ever been permitted within its portals, and obedi- 
ence to law and loyalty to government are its cardinal princi- 
ples ; with these in view, and with justice to all, no doubt can 
exist as to its true and good intentions. There can be found 
in the ranks of St. Omer Lodge men from all classes of life, 
and among its Past Chancellors are those who have held the 
highest office in the gift of the city. 



IMPROVED ORDER OF RED MEN. 

On May 24, 1887, there assembled a number of citizens of 
this city for the purpose of forming an association, or what is 
now called a Tribe, of Red Men, under authority and by con- 
sent of the Great Council of the Improved Order of Red Men 
of this Reservation (Commonwealth of Massachusetts), and to 
further the principles of freedom, friendship, and charity in 
this vicinity. The gathering was effected by one who was a 
leading society man, and who took a great deal of interest in 
the organization. On the 14th day of June of the same year a 
charter was procured, and the formation of the tribe was com- 
pleted with a membership of over 100 men, and later the name 
of Massachusetts Tribe, No. 44, was adopted, and the first 
council fire of the tribe was kindled. From June 9, 1887, to 
the present date the tribe has met regularly every second and 
fourth Tuesday of the month, and with attention to the benefits 
of the order has succeeded in placing upon its list of members 
some of the best citizens of the city. 

The order itself is one of the oldest known, founded on 
principles which are truly American, and having among its 
signs, grips, and passwords everything pertaining to the aborigi- 
nes of America. 

The terms applied to the months of the year, as well as those 
applied to its finances, all speak of the red man of the forest, 
and a study into its mysteries will demonstrate the rude yet 
perfectly intelligible manner in which he chronicled all affairs. 
Freedom is one of the cardinal principles, and friendship is 
strongly exemplified in all its phases, while true charity is 
depicted in every act of its members, by extending the helping 
hand to the distressed. 

Ponema Tribe meets the second and fourth Mondays in each 
month. 



CAMBRIDGE CLUBS. 

By GEORGE HOWLAND COX. 

Cambridge is famed for the many social clubs connected with 
the university and the town. Their purposes are varied, the 
musical, literary, scientific, and social tastes of its people are 
fully provided for. Among those organized for social purposes, 
the most unique, perhaps, is the Colonial Club, which com- 
bines both town and gown ; for the professor in the university 
and the business man of the city are included in its membership. 
This club was organized in 1890 by J. J. Myers (its promoter), 
Charles W. Eliot, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Henry H. 
Giltnore, Alvin F. Sortwell, J. G. Thorp, Chester W. Kingsley, 
Henry P. Walcott, William A. Munroe, Charles J. Mclntire, 
Daniel U. Chamberlin, Edmund Reardon, and Edmund A. 
Whitman. 

The Henry James house, No. 20 Quincy Street, was pur- 
chased immediately after organization, and in 1892 it was 
entirely remodeled, and a very large addition made to it. It 
has the conveniences of a modern club-house, which include 
reading and card rooms, library, dining-rooms for members, as 
well as for ladies, assembly hall, bedrooms, billiard-rooms, and 
bowling-alleys. 

The membership of the club is about four hundred, and com- 
prises a most representative array of men. Its past presidents 
include Colonel Thomas Wentworth Higginson, 1890-93, and 
Charles W. Eliot, 1893-95. Its present secretary and treasurer 
have served continuously since the first organization. The pur- 
pose of the club is not merely to provide the usual place for 
reading-rooms and social intercourse, but to bring the men of 
the various sections of the city into closer relationship. Its 
success has been marked, and no club stands higher, or offers 
greater inducements to men who desire a place where club life 
can be found in its most dignified form. 




Colonial Club House. 




Newtowne Club House. 



THE NEWTOWNE AND CAMBRIDGE CLUBS. 295 

The officers are : J. J. Myers, president ; Judge John W. 
Hammond, Richard H. Dana, Judge C. J. Mclntire, Arthur 
E. Denison, vice-presidents ; George Howland Cox, secretary ; 
Edmund A. Whitman, treasurer. 

The Newtowne Club of North Cambridge had its origin 
in the Rindge Club, which was organized in December, 1893. 
The name Rindge was discarded the following year at the re- 
quest of Mr. Rindge, and " Newtowne " substituted in its place. 
The club was incorporated July 23, 1894, and it is in the pos- 
session of a handsome club-house, colonial in design, located 
on the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Davenport Street. 
The object of the club is to promote physical culture and social 
intercourse among its members. The club-house has a commo- 
dious gymnasium and six fine bowling-alleys. The membership 
is about four hundred and twenty-five, and includes many well- 
known men in the city. The officers are : E. D. Mellen, presi- 
dent ; W. H. Lerned, vice-president ; John C. Sylvia, secre- 
tary; George W. Apsey, treasurer. 

The Cambridge Club is the outgrowth of the Harvard 
Lyceum, an organization formed October 26, 1879, by citizens 
mostly of Cambridgeport, with the object " to promote literary 
and social culture among its members, and especially to con- 
sider and discuss questions relating to the welfare of the city of 
Cambridge." Meetings were held at Pythian Hall, Main Street. 
At a meeting held November 17, 1881, an amended constitu- 
tion and by-laws were adopted, and it was voted to change the 
name to the Cambridge Club. Meetings are held monthly, ex- 
cepting in summer, with a dinner at each. The aim of the club 
is to create and keep alive in the community a keen interest in 
all matters relating to the welfare of Cambridge ; and with that 
object in view, the discussions at its meetings have generally 
been confined to subjects of that character. The limit of mem- 
bership is one hundred, and there are no vacancies. Its officers 
are: Dr. Henry O. Marcy, president; Judge Charles J. Mc- 
lntire, vice-president ; Charles F. Wyman, secretary ; Will F. 
Roaf, treasurer. 

The Economy Club is an organization of young men which 
began as a debating society, and has broadened into a well- 
known and influential institution of the town. It was organized 
in 1872, and has had a continuous career ever since, this long 
and vigorous life making it remarkable among clubs of its char- 



296 CAMBRIDGE CLUBS. 

acter. Not a few men who have won distinction in various 
fields of activity have been members of the Economy Club, and 
owe much to its training. Its object is the study and discussion 
of economic, social, political, and historical questions. The 
management is in the hands of the president and executive 
committee, yet club affairs are fully discussed in such a manner 
as to preserve town-meeting methods. The club occasionally 
invites men eminent in their special lines of thought to address 
it, and other organizations to participate in joint debates ; but 
it relies principally upon the efforts of the members, thereby 
preserving its traditions and its esprit de corps. The individ- 
uality of the club is marked by its singleness of purpose, by the 
composite character of its membership, and by the fact that it 
is non-sectarian and non-political. 

The Cantabrigia Club was organized in March, 1892, and 
Mrs. Estelle M. H. Merrill was elected president. The object 
of the club, as set forth in its constitution, is threefold, " so- 
cial, literary, and humanitarian. In its work it shall endeavor, 
not only among its members, but in the community, to promote 
good fellowship and the highest form of social life ; to encour- 
age mental and moral development, and to aid by its organized 
effort such worthy causes as may secure its sympathy." Its 
work is divided among eight committees, — on literature, art, 
science, music, civics, the home, philanthropy, and current 
events, each presided over by a chairman. The membership of 
the club is more than six hundred, and its influence in the com- 
munity has been marked. The officers of the club are : Mrs. 
William A. Bancroft, acting president ; Miss Grace S. Rice, 
corresponding secretary ; Mrs. Agnes D. Wilder, treasurer. 



THE CITIZENS' TRADE ASSOCIATION. 

The Citizens' Trade Association of Cambridge was incorpo- 
rated in 1892 by John H. Corcoran, Oliver J. Rand, George 
G. Wright, John S. Sawyer, Fred L. Beunke, Herman Bird, 
E. Burt PhiUips, T. H. Raymond, Edwin H. Jose, David T. 
Dickinson, Daniel E. Frasier, C. W. Kingsley, George D. 
Chamberlain, Farwell J. Thayer, Charles Bullock, Henry O. 
Marcy, G. W. Burditt, Edmund Reardon, and George W. 
Gale. 

The object of this association is to establish and maintain a 
place for friendly and social meetings of the business men of 
Cambridge, and to promote the welfare and business interests 
of the city. 

The association fills a double need in Cambridge, for besides 
the business phase, which is most important, its rooms are well 
adapted for semi-club purposes, and are freely used in this way. 
The membership is composed of manufacturers, merchants, and 
professional men, and its work has been very effective. It 
holds monthly meetings, at which matters of public interest are 
very frankly discussed, and before any action is taken, an op- 
portunity is given for both sides of the question to be strongly 
presented. Many great public movements have originated 
here and been taken up and carried out by the citizens at large. 
One of the most important was the agitation of the park ques- 
tion, which finally received the attention and effective interest 
of the city government. Among the latest efforts in this 
direction was the movement for the celebration of the fiftieth 
anniversary of the city. The original suggestion toward the 
accomplishment of this was made at a meeting of the associa- 
tion in the spring of 1895. 

The officers are as follows : president, Henry O. Houghton ; 
vice-president, David A. Ritchie ; treasurer, Oliver J. Rand ; 
clerk, Theodore H. Raymond ; auditor, Will F. Roaf ; directors, 
John L. Odiorne, William P. Brown, Enoch Beane, Charles P. 
Keith, John F. Danskin. 



III. 



FINANCIAL AND MANUFACTURING. 

By GEORGE HOWLAND COX. 
FINANCIAL. 

It was not until the year 1826 that Cambridge had any bank- 
ing facilities of its own, although it had long been a wealthy 
town. In March of that year the Cambridge Bank was char- 
tered. The first meeting of its stockholders was held in Eben- 
ezer Kimball's tavern, March 22, 1826. William I. Whipple 
was elected moderator, and Thomas Foster clerk. The act in- 
corporating the " Cambridge Bank " had been passed by the 
General Court, March 4, and at this meeting the charter was 
accepted. Subscriptions for the stock were opened, and a board 
of directors elected as follows : James P. Chaplin, William 
Hillard, Newell Bent, Levi Farwell, William Fiske, John Trow- 
bridge, Charles Everett, Isaiah Bangs, and S. P. P. Fay. 
Judge Fay declined to serve, and at a later meeting, March 31, 
Asahel Stearns was elected in his place. 

The bank was capitalized at $150,000, and the stock was 
taken by residents of Boston, Natick, Watertown, Brighton, 
Sudbury, and many of the towns of eastern Massachusetts, 
but the larger portion was placed in Cambridge. In 1833, 
shortly after the organization of the Charles River Bank, it was 
voted to reduce the capital stock to $100,000, and in the fol- 
lowing year, 1834, the reduction was made. It has remained at 
this figure ever since, although there were attempts made to 
raise the capital to $150,000 in 1853, and to $200,000 in 1854. 

The board of directors held its first meeting March 27, at 
the house of Dr. Chaplin (corner of Austin and Innian streets). 
Dr. Chaplin was elected the first president of the bank. Mar- 
tin Lane was elected cashier, and Luke Hemenway's store was 
purchased for the bank's quarters. The cashier was ordered to 
report for duty Monday morning, May 22, but it is probable 



302 FINANCIAL AND MANUFACTURING. 

that the bank did not begin business until the following Mon- 
day, the 29th. It is said that it opened for business simulta- 
neously with the inauguration of hourly coaches between Cam- 
bridge and Boston. The bank occupied Mr. Hemen way's store 
until it bought the brick building numbered 689 Main Street, 
where it had its rooms on the second floor. The bank remained 
there until 1870, when the brick building, which it now owns 
and occupies, was erected. 

The young institution prospered. In less than a year it 
paid a four per cent, dividend, and its stock was at a premium. 
In 1843 an attempt was made to wind up its affairs, but the 
attempt did not succeed. The bank reorganized as the " Cam- 
bridgeport National Bank " in June, 1865. 

Dr. Chaplin, the first president, died in October, 1828. He 
was succeeded by Deacon Levi Farwell, who resigned in Janu- 
ary, 1832, to accept the presidency of the newly organized 
Charles River Bank. Judge Fay followed Deacon Farwell, 
resigning in December, 1842. Rev. Thomas Whittemore held 
the presidency till his resignation, March, 1860. Benjamin 
Tilton finished out the year, and in the following October Rev. 
Dr. Lucius R. Paige, at that time filling the position of cashier, 
was elected. In March, 1863, Dr. Paige resigned the presidency 
to accept the cashiership again, and Robert Douglass was made 
president. He carried the bank through the trying period of 
the reorganization, and resigned, on account of ill health, in 
January, 1882, and was succeeded by Hon. Asa P. Morse, the 
present incumbent. 

Since the organization of the bank, the following persons, 
in addition to those named elsewhere, have served on the board 
of directors : Thomas Foster, E. T. Hastings, E. W. Metcalf, 
B. Bigelow, N. Childs, Francis Bowman, John Hayden, Ebene- 
zer Kimball, Charles Haynes, Abel W. Bruce, Phineas B. 
Hovey, Hiram Brooks, Leonard Stone, Henry Potter, Flavel 
Coolidge, W. B. Hovey, Daniel U. Chamberlin, Jeremiah 
Wetherbee, Charles Wood, Edward Hyde, Ira Stratton, Alex- 
ander Dickinson, Curtis Davis, Samuel James, and Martin L. 
Smith. The number of directors has changed several times in 
the bank's history : at first nine members constituted the board, 
later this was increased to twelve, then it dropped back to nine 
again ; a little later it was reduced to seven, and finally to five, 
the present number. Of the first board of directors William 



THE CAMBRIDGE BANKS. 303 

Fiske served the bank the longest ; he resigned in 1851, after 
twenty-five years of service. The present board consists of Lucius 
R. Paige, Asa P. Morse, Charles James, Frank H. Jones, and 
Charles Bullock. Dr. Paige was elected cashier in 1857, and 
he has served the bank continuously, in different capacities, 
since that time. Mr. Morse has been connected with the bank 
since 1860. 

Mr. Lane served the bank as cashier from its inception, 1826, 
till March, 1855, when he resigned on account of ill-health. 
Dr. Paige held the position till March, 1860. Joseph Whitte- 
more, late principal assessor, followed Dr. Paige, resigning in 
February, 1863. Dr. Paige took the office again temporarily, 
until Seymour B. Snow was elected in August, 1864. Mr. 
Snow held the position just twenty years. He resigned in 1884, 
when Mr. Will F. Roaf, the present cashier, was promoted to 
the position. The report of the bank at the close of business 
February 28, 1896, showed a surplus fund and divided profits 
of $41,307, and deposits amounting to $171,919. 

Middlesex Bank was chartered in 1832, and was located 
in East Cambridge. William Parmenter was elected president, 
and William Whitney cashier. The bank, after a short exist- 
ence, was obliged to wind up its affairs ; it redeemed its circu- 
lation, paid its depositors in full, and forty-two per cent, of its 
capital to its stockholders. 

In 1853 the Lechmere Bank was chartered with a capital 
of $100,000. Its first board of directors consisted of Lewis 
Hall, K. S. Chaffee, Samuel Slocomb, Francis Draper, and 
Amory Houghton. Lewis Hall was elected president, and John 
Savage, Jr., cashier. Mr. Hall still holds the office of presi- 
dent. The bank is located on Cambridge Street, East Cam- 
bridge, and is very successful. Its capital is $100,000, and 
February 28, 1896, it reported a surplus fund and undivided 
profits of $82,090, and deposits of $183,598. 

National City Bank was organized May 30, 1853, under 
the name of the Cambridge City Bank, with Samuel P. Hey- 
wood, Eliphalet Davis, John Livermore, George W. Whitte- 
more, Henry M. Chamberlain, George T. Gale, and William P. 
Fiske as directors. Mr. Heywood was chosen president tempo- 
rarily, but he resigned June 9, 1853, and John Livermore was 
elected in his place. Mr. Livermore is the only one of the ori- 



304 FINANCIAL AND MANUFACTURING. 

ginal board of directors now living. Edward Richardson was 
elected cashier. The bank began business in the building then 
known as the Cambridge Athenaeum, now occupied by the Pros- 
pect Union. In 1865 the bank was reorganized as a national 
bank, and in 1885 its charter was extended. The bank was 
afterward moved to the building on the corner of Main and 
Norfolk streets, and a few years ago again moved to the present 
location, Massachusetts Avenue and Inman Street. The bank 
has had four presidents since its organization : Samuel P. Hey- 
wood, John Livermore, George T. Gale, and Edwin Dresser ; 
two cashiers, Edward Richardson and Henry B. Davis. The 
present board of directors is composed of Edwin Dresser, Frank 
A. Kennedy, George W. Gale, James W. Hazen, and Henry B. 
Davis. The capital of the bank is #100,000. Surplus fund and 
undivided profits at close of business, February 28, 1896, were 
$82,950, with deposits of $299,390. 

Charles River Bank. — The first meeting for the purpose 
of organization was held March 13, 1832, in the office of Levi 
Farwell, at which meeting Mr. Farwell acted as chairman, with 
C. C. Little as secretary. The first board of directors chosen 
was Levi Farwell, J. Coolidge, C. C. Little, J. Brown, A. 
Stearns, William Brown, "William Watriss, and Robert Fuller. 
On March 30, 1832, a committee consisting of Levi Farwell and 
C. C. Little made a report recommending John B. Dana as 
cashier, with a salary of $900 per annum. The committee also 
reported that it had agreed to take rooms in the building now 
occupied by the Charles River National Bank, and owned by 
Harvard University, for a rent of $150 per year. Mr. Dana 
accepted the position as cashier May 21, 1832. 

In 1864 the bank was reorganized as the Charles River Na- 
tional Bank, and has an average deposit of $600,000, with a 
business through the Boston Clearing House exceeding annu- 
ally $1,200,000. 

The presidents of the instittition have been Levi Farwell, 
elected March 20, 1832, died in 1844 ; Charles C. Little, elected 
1844, died in 1869 ; Samuel B. Rindge, elected 1869, died in 
1883 ; David B. Flint, elected 1883, resigned in 1887 ; Charles 
E. Raymond, elected 1887, resigned 1889. Walter S. Swan, 
now its president, was elected in 1889. Mr. Dana, its first 



A PATRIOTIC OFFER. 305 

cashier, held the position until November 22, 1858, when he 
resigned, and Eben Snow was elected. Mr. Snow resigned 
January 1, 1890, and George H. Holmes, the present cashier, 
was elected. 

The board of directors is composed of Walter S. Swan, Wil- 
liam T. Richardson (elected a director in 1845), James A. 
Wood, R. N. Toppan, and William B. Durant. The capital of 
the bank is $100,000, and it has a surplus and undivided 
profits of -$61,471. 

The Fiest National Bank. — In the autumn of 1860, 
during the period when civil war menaced the country, and 
filled the public mind with anxious thoughts, and at a time 
when the country was suffering a consequent financial depres- 
sion, a few of the leading citizens of Cambridge conceived the 
idea of organizing a new bank, an action due to the foresight, 
courage, and enterprise of Mr. Benjamin Tilton, who was its 
controlling spirit. 

The Harvard Bank was organized November 7 under the 
general banking laws of the Commonwealth, with a capital of 
$200,000, and occupied rooms in the house known as the Dowse 
building, at the easterly corner of Main and Prospect streets. 
Its first directors were Benjamin Tilton, Daniel U. Chamber- 
lin, George Livermore, Alanson Bigelow, John Sargent, Ed- 
ward Hyde, Charles Wood, Newell Bent, Louis Colby, William 
A. Saunders, Estes Howe, and Z. L. Raymond; Hon. Charles 
Theodore Russell acting as solicitor. It was the intention of the 
directors to begin business on the first day of March, 1861, but 
the political condition of the country was unsettled, and as the 
prevention of President Lincoln's inauguration had been threat- 
ened, it was decided to postpone opening until after the inau- 
guration had taken place. The banking-rooms were open for 
business on the 5th of March. An interesting event occurred 
on the 22d of April, immediately after the breaking out of 
the war ; at a meeting of the directors the following vote was 
passed : " In consideration of the present exigencies in public 
affairs, the president of this bank is authorized and requested 
to tender a loan of $50,000 to the Commonwealth of Massachu- 
setts." This tender was made, and the following reply was 
received from his Excellency Governor Andrew : — 



306 FINANCIAL AND MANUFACTURING. 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 
Treasurer's Office, 
- Boston, April 24, 1861. 

Benjamin Tilton, Esq., President Harvard Bank. 

Dear Sir, — Your communication of the 22d inst. containing the 
offer of your hank of a loan of $50,000 has been placed in my hands 
by his Excellency Governor Andrew for reply. 

He desires me to express to your board of directors his sincere 
gratitude for the intelligent patriotism which has prompted your liber- 
ality. No immediate necessity existing for its instant acceptance, I 
am directed to say, as has already been done in the case of similar 
offers, that with your permission he will hold your offer in reserve for 
such future emergencies as may arise. 

Very truly yours. 

Henry K. Oliver, 

Treasurer and Receiver General. 

The bank paid its first dividend October 1, 1861. On De- 
cember 30 of the same year, in common with all banks in 
Boston and vicinity, this bank suspended specie payment. 
April 28, 1864, articles of association as First National Bank 
of Cambridge were adopted, and the bank fully organized as a 
national bank May 16, 1861. On May 24 it was appointed 
a depository and financial agent of the United States, and began 
business under this new organization June 1, the board of 
directors remaining unchanged. Circulating notes to the full 
amount of its capital, $200,000, were issued. In December, 
1875, the bank removed to its present quarters in the Grant 
Building. In November, 1882, the bank and the community 
suffered a serious loss in the death of President Tilton, who had 
been identified with the business interests of the city through 
many years, and had won a deserved reputation for sagacity. 

November 28, 1882, Daniel U. Chamberlin was elected pres- 
ident, and on February 24, 1893, the charter as a national bank 
was extended to 1903. Since beginning business in 1861 it 
has paid $640,000 in dividends, and has now a surplus about 
equal to its capital. Mr. Chamberlin, the president, and Mr. 
W. A. Bullard, the cashier, are, with one exception, the only 
persons living who were actively connected with the administra- 
tion of its affairs when the bank was organized, they having 
served continuously for thirty-five years. The present board 
of directors consists of Daniel U. Chamberlin, Henry Endicott, 



SAFE DEPOSIT COMPANY. 307 

Henry N. Tilton, Dana W. Hyde, Erasmus D. Leavitt, and 
W. W. DaUinger. 

The Cambridge National Bank, located at No. 221 Cam- 
bridge Street, East Cambridge, was organized in June, 1864, 
through the efforts of Daniel R. Sortwell, who at that time had 
just moved into Ward Three from Somerville. The first board 
of directors consisted of Daniel R. Sortwell, Joseph H. Tyler, 
John N. Meriam, Charles J. Adams, Thomas Cunningham, 
Israel Tibbetts, and Joseph A. Wellington. Daniel R. Sortwell 
was elected president, and John C. Bullard cashier. The bank 
opened for business August 1, 1864. 

The board, as first elected, served without a break until 
1874 : John C. Bullard was elected in 1875 to succeed John 
N. Meriam ; Alvin F. Sortwell, elected in 1878 to succeed Israel 
Tibbetts ; Gustavus Goepper, elected in 1887 to succeed Charles 
J. Adams ; Charles J. Adams, elected in 1889 to succeed Joseph 
A. Wellington ; George E. Carter, elected in 1895 to succeed 
Daniel R. Sortwell. 

In 1893 the Articles of Association were amended, reducing 
the number of directors to five. 

Daniel R. Sortwell died on October 4, 1894, and the office 
of president was not filled until the annual election in Jan- 
uary, 1895, when Alvin F. Sortwell was elected to succeed him. 
The present board of directors consists of John C. Bullaixl, 
George E. Carter, Thomas Cunningham, Gustavus Goepper, 
and Alvin F. Sortwell. Mr. Bullard has held the office of 
cashier since the organization of the bank, and is now serving 
his thirty-second year in that position. The deposits vary from 
$280,000 to $370,000, and the surplus and undivided profits 
are $41,030.30. The bank discounts consist almost altogether 
of local paper, and it is seldom obliged to buy notes of out-of- 
town parties. 

Cambridge Safe Deposit and Trust Company. — A 
special charter for this company was granted by the legisla- 
ture of 1890, and the Cambridge Safety Deposit Vaults Com- 
pany, with a capital of $20,000, was organized under the 
general law in January, 1890, by Messrs. William R. Ellis, 
Richard H. Dana, James W. Brine, J. Rayner Edmands, and 
Woodward Emery; the stock was wholly taken by residents 
of Cambridge. The company leased the two stores and base- 
ment in Hilton Block, numbered 1298 and 1300 Massachusetts 



308 FINANCIAL AND MANUFACTURING. 

Avenue, its present location, and made a contract for the most 
approved vault and lock work with, the Damon Safe Company. 

The board of directors consisted of Messrs. James W. Brine, 
Richard H. Dana, J. Rayner Edmands, William R. Ellis, 
Moses G. Howe, Joseph B. Russell, and Henry White. Joseph 
B. Russell was elected president, and John H. Hubbard treas- 
urer; Edmund M. Parker, John H. Hubbard, and Alvin F. 
Sortwell were elected to the board of directors February 24, 
1891. 

President Russell resigned on January 20, 1891, and Alvin 
F. Sortwell was elected to the position, and held the same until 
the company closed up its affairs and transferred its plant to 
the trust company. 

In the summer of 1892 Henry White, Daniel R. and Alvin 
F. Sortwell started a subscription to raise $100,000 for the pur- 
pose of using the charter for the trust company, granted in 
1890. The stock was quickly taken, largely by residents of 
Cambridge, and the company was organized and opened for 
business in November, 1892. Alvin F. Sortwell was elected 
president during organization. The trust company bought out 
the Cambridge Safety Vaults Company, taking their vaults and 
fixtures, and the lease of the banking-room. 

On account of the pressure of other interests President Sort- 
well resigned before the company opened for business. Mr. 
Henry White was elected president ; Joseph B. Russell, vice- 
president ; and Louis W. Cutting, treasurer, on September 20, 
1892. The board of directors consisted of J. Q. Bennett, O. H. 
Durrell, J. M. W. Hall, Gardiner M. Lane, William Taggard 
Piper, Alvin F. Sortwell, E. D. Leavitt, Nathaniel C. Nash, 
Joseph B. Russell, Moses Williams, and Henry W T hite. 

President White resigned in June, 1894, on accomit of ab- 
sence in Europe, and Joseph B. Russell was elected in his 
place, and Alvin F. Sortwell was elected vice-president. The 
changes in board of directors have been as follows : William 
J. Underwood in place of J. M. W. Hall, resigned ; J. H. 
Hubbard in place of O. H. Durrell, resigned ; H. O. Under- 
wood in place of William J. Underwood, resigned ; and William 
E. Russell and Herbert H. White added to the number. 

The total deposits now average over half a million of dollars. 
Semi-annual dividends have been paid since 1894, and a surplus 
of over 115,000 accumulated. The silver vaults and safety 



THE CAMBRIDGE SAVINGS BANK. 309 

boxes in charge of Franklin Perrin, manager, are a feature of 
the institution, and are a great convenience to the citizens of 
Cambridge, as is indicated by their increased patronage. In its 
three years' existence, the deposits have shown a steady and 
natural increase, and that, too, without drawing from the excel- 
lent national banks. The business comes from residents of 
Cambridge who have heretofore done their banking and had 
safety boxes in Boston, together with patrons drawn from 
Arlington, Watertown, Somerville, and other adjoining cities 
and towns. Interest is credited on daily balances. 

The Cambridge Savings Bank was incorporated April 2, 
1834, under the name of the " Savings Institution in the Town 
of Cambridge," and bore that name until March 14, 1868, when 
by act of the legislature it took its present name. Previous 
to the time of its incorporation there wei*e but nineteen institu- 
tions of the kind in the State. The original incorporators were 
William J. Whipple, William Hilliard, and Levi Farwell, and 
at a meeting of these gentlemen held in Mr. Hilliard's office on 
the southerly side of Brighton (now Boylston) Street, October 
27, 1834, their number was increased to nine by electing Eliab 
W. Metcalf, Abel Willard, William Watriss, William Brown, 
John B. Dana, and Charles C. Little. At a meeting held No- 
vember 17, 1834, at the Charles River Bank, forty-four more 
were added to the number, making fifty-three in all. The first 
choice for president of this time-honored institution was no less 
a personage than Judge Joseph Story, who was elected Novem- 
ber 24, 1834, but his resignation was read at the next meet- 
ing, December 19, 1834, so that he never presided at any of its 
deliberations. 

The first active president was Asahel Stearns, elected Janu- 
ary 5, 1835. The first vice-presidents were Simon Greenleaf, 
Samuel King, Charles Everett, and Sidney Willard, who were 
elected November 24, 1834. The first board of trustees were 
the above-named president and vice-presidents, John Chamber- 
lin, Eliab W. Metcalf, Anson Hooker, Joseph N. Howe, Jr., 
William Fiske, Robert Fuller, Edward Brown, Jr., Levi Far- 
well, Charles C. Little, Ralph Smith, William J. Whipple, and 
Jacob N. Bates. The first election of a clerk or secretary 
occurred at the meeting of November 24, 1834, and Mr. John 
B. Dana was chosen. The first auditors were Charles C. Little, 
William J. Whipple, and Samuel King, who were elected Jan- 



310 FINANCIAL AND MANUFACTURING. 

uary 2, 1835, and the first board of investment was chosen at 
the same meeting, the members of which were Levi Farwell, 
Ralph Smith, Eliab W. Metcalf, Charles Everett, Charles C. 
Little, Joseph N. Howe, Jr., and Sidney Willard. The first 
treasurer was James Hayward, chosen December 19, 1834. 
The bank evidently began business in Mr. Hilliard's office, for 
a committee reported January 19, 1835, " that the treasurer can 
be accommodated with an office in the room occupied by Wil- 
liam Hilliard for a sum not exceeding five dollars per quarter," 
and at the same meeting, which was held at the Charles River 
Bank, it was voted " that the treasurer be authorized to furnish 
the said office with such furniture, etc., as he may think neces- 
sary." Its first deposit was ten dollars, received from Mehitable 
Holbrook, January 24, 1835. The bank appears to have been 
of pecuniary help to its depositors from the start, as Mr. Hay- 
ward's first report, made July 23, 1835, when the institution 
was six months old, shows that a dividend was made of twenty- 
eight dollars and twelve cents, and that the rate was four per 
cent. The amount then due depositors was $5896. The 
amount deposited in the bank during the year ending the fourth 
Thursday of January, 1846, was $22,424.85 ; for the year ending 
the fourth Thursday of January, 1856, $48,192.30 ; the same 
date in 1866, $186,887.67 ; in 1876, $420,184.91 ; in 1886, 
$428,046.90 ; and in the j r ear ending the fourth Thursday of 
January, 1896, $602,409.03. The amount due depositors on 
the last-named date was $3,455,769.62. 

Mr. John B. Dana was a constant worker for the interests of 
the bank, from the date of his election to the position of secre- 
tary to his decease, March 16, 1878. He acted in that capacity 
for six years, and was president for the same length of time. 
He was treasurer sixteen years, and trustee twenty-three years. 
James H. Wyeth, who is now in active service, has served the 
bank as auditor twenty years, and has been secretary and trus- 
tee for thirty-two years. But the most remarkable term of ser- 
vice in the history of the bank has been that of Mr. Andrew S. 
Waitt, whose chair has hardly ever been vacant at any meet- 
ing of the corporation board of trustees, or board of investment, 
for a period of forty years. The value of his services to the 
bank and community cannot easily be estimated. 

The names of the presidents and treasurers who have served 
the bank, with dates of election, are here given. Presidents : 



NORTH AVENUE SAVINGS BANK. 311 

Asahel Stearns, elected January 5, 1835 ; Levi Farwell, elected 
December 10, 1838 ; Simon Greenleaf, elected January 22, 
1845 ; Sidney Willard, elected January 24, 1849 ; Jacob H. 
Bates, elected January 21, 1852 ; Charles C. Little, elected 
January 25, 1854 ; Dr. Charles Beck, elected February 8, 1860 ; 
Stephen T. Farwell, elected April 9,1866; John B. Dana, 
elected February 14, 1872 ; Charles W. Sever, elected March 
16, 1878. Treasurers : James Hayward, elected December 19, 
1834 ; John Owen, elected November 23, 1835 ; John B. Dana, 
elected January 27, 1841 ; William L. Whitney, elected Janu- 
ary 21, 1857 ; Eben Snow, elected November 19, 1866 ; James 
M. Thurston, elected March 14, 1873 ; Oscar F. Allen, elected 
December 26, 1884. Clerk: James H. Wyeth, elected Feb- 
ruary 9, 1864. 

Cambridgeport Savings Bank was incorporated in 1853 
by Thaddeus B. Bigelow, Benjamin Tilton, George C. Richard- 
son, Robert Douglas, Charles Wood, Thomas Whittemore, John 
Sargent, George W. Livermore, Edward Hyde, Jeremiah 
Wetherbee, Lucius R. Paige, William Greenough, John M. 
St. Clair, and Aaron Rice. The bank has been successful from 
its start ; its deposits, January 13, 1896, were $3,857,575.49 ; 
the number of corporators, 23 ; number of depositors, 12,164. 
Its officers are Daniel IT. Chamberlin, president; Lucius R. 
Paige, Asa P. Morse, and Henry Endicott, vice-presidents; 
Henry W. Bullard, treasurer. 

North Avenue Savings Bank was incorporated March 
2, 1872, and organized March 7, 1872, with the choice of Sam- 
uel F. Woodbridge, president ; William Fox Richardson, Jonas 
C. Wellington, Cornelius Dorr, and Chandler R. Ranson, vice- 
presidents ; George W. Parke, secretary. Its first board of 
trustees were Chester W. Kingsley, Warren Sanger, Daniel W. 
Shaw, Person Davis. John J. Henderson, Daniel Fobes, Henry 
C. Rand, Horatio Locke, John Davis, David Ellis, Levi L. 
Cushing, and James H. Collins. At the meeting of the trustees 
held July 8, 1872, Milton L. Walton was chosen treasurer. 
The growth of the bank was necessarily slow, owing to the fact 
that business was begun the year of the great Boston fire, and 
that the bank was located some distance away from the indus- 
trial centre of the city. On January 10, 1896, the deposits 
were $503,899.52, and there were 2291 depositors. The pres- 
ent officers are : Samuel F. Woodbridge, president ; William 



312 FINANCIAL AND MANUFACTURING. 

Fox Richardson, Cornelius Dorr, Charles F. Stratton, vice- 
presidents ; Milton L. Walton, treasurer. 

East Cambridge Savings Bank was incorporated April 29, 
1854. The charter members of the corporation were Frederic 
W. Holland, Joseph Whitney, George Stevens, William Par- 
menter, John S. Ladd, Caleb Hayden, Ephraim Buttrick, 
Lewis Hall, Lorenzo Marrett, Norman S. Cate, Charles B. 
Stevens, Samuel Slocomb, and Anson Hooker. 

At the first meeting of the corporation the following board of 
officers was chosen : president, Frederic W. Holland ; vice- 
presidents, George Stevens, Jesse Hall, and John Taylor ; secre- 
tary, Ezra Ripley ; trustees, Samuel Slocomb, Lewis Hall, 
Norman S. Cate, Anson Hooker, Lorenzo Marrett, Thomas 
Hastings, Silas B. Buck, William Wyman, Ezra Ripley, H. N. 
Hovey, J. S. Ladd, George Fifield. 

At the first meeting of the trustees, John Savage, Jr., was 
elected treasurer, and on May 20, 1854, the bank was opened 
for business in the banking-rooms of the Lechmere Bank. Mr. 
Holland continued as president till his removal from the State 
in 1859, when George Stevens succeeded him and served as 
president until his death in 1894, when John C. Bullard was 
chosen. 

Mr. Savage, the first treasurer, served in that capacity until 
1873, when Samuel Slocomb was chosen, who continued in office 
until his death in 1887. Miss Mary Lowell Stone, the assistant 
of Mr. Slocomb, succeeded him, and served until her death in 
1889, Mr. William E. Lloyd being then elected. Among those 
who have served as trustees of the bank appear the names of 
Moses Clarke, Knowlton S. Chaffee, Joseph H. Tyler, Isaac F. 
Jones, John H. Leighton, William Hunnewell, John Conlan, 
Edward W. Bettinson, Thomas S. Hudson, John M. Tyler, 
Daniel R. Sortwell, Israel Tibbetts, and Enos Reed. 

The present board of officers is : president, John C. Bullard ; 
vice-presidents, Lewis Hall, Silas B. Buck, and Alvin F. Sort- 
well ; treasurer and secretary, William E. Lloyd : trustees, 
James M. Price, Andrew J. Green, Benjamin F. Thompson, 
Gustavus Goepper, John McSorley, William Goepper, James 
G. Ferguson, Frank H. Marshall, M. J. Harty, Edward H. 
Thompson, David Proudfoot, William R. Adams. 

From its incorporation until the year 1873 the bank occupied 
the rooms of the Lechmere Bank. At that time the estate on 



ADVANTAGES FOR MANUFACTURING. 313 

Cambridge Street formerly occupied by Dr. Anson Hooker was 
purchased, and a banking-room fitted up on the lower floor. 
Here the bank continued until the taking of the land by the 
county of Middlesex in 1895 compelled a removal. Land on 
the south side of Cambridge Street, midway between Third and 
Fourth streets (numbered at present 292), was purchased, and a 
building erected for the exclusive use of the bank. It is a one- 
story structure of stone, brick, and iron, as nearly fireproof as 
is possible. Never in its history has the bank failed to pay its 
depositors principal and interest, and always a high rate of 
interest, being one of the thirteen banks in the State which 
last year paid four and one half per cent. The amount of the 
total deposit at present is $2,271,977.91, an increase of $622,000 
in five years. It has a large surplus — being in amount ten per 
cent, of the total deposits, and as large in proportion as that of 
any other bank in the State. 

MANUFACTURES. 

Cambridge, in the possession of her great university, has a 
world-wide reputation, yet her mauufacturing interests have so 
largely increased, and have become of such importance, that she 
has gained another distinction, that of being a great manufac- 
turing centre. 

Among the conditions that govern a manufacturer in select- 
ing a place to establish business are favorable location, low 
price of land and convenience to railroads, a market for labor, 
and a fair tax rate. He seeks also pure water and an abun- 
dant supply, educational facilities, and proper surroundings for 
the home life of his employees. Cambridge is unsurpassed in 
all of these respects by any other place in the vicinity of 
Boston. 

The Boston & Albany Railroad passes through the manu- 
facturing district of Cambridge, and affords quick connection 
with all the other railroads centring in Boston. The advan- 
tage of tide-water so near at hand, and the cheapest possible 
water freights for coal and raw materials and for the delivery 
of manufactured products in all parts of the world, add to the 
attractions offered in Cambridge to great manufacturing in- 
dustries. 

Upwards of five million square feet of land available for 
manufacturing purposes, situated in the midst of large and 



314 FINANCIAL AND MANUFACTURING. 

flourishing industries already established, are still to be occu- 
pied. This territory is distant less than one mile from the 
State House in Boston, and it can be purchased for a lower 
figure than that quoted for desirable locations in either East 
Boston, South Boston, or Charlestown. 

Woodward Emery, Esq., chairman of the Massachusetts 
Hai'bor and Land Commission, referring to this section of 
Cambridge, says : — 

" The East Cambridge Land Co. was established under a 
charter from the Commonwealth more than quarter of a cen- 
tury ago, for the purpose of improving the vacant marsh lands 
in East Cambridge lying between Third and Portland streets, 
Broad, Canal, and Charles streets, and including about three 
million square feet of land. It was organized by Gardiner G. 
Hubbard, who may fairly be called the father of three great 
enterprises which have greatly benefited the city, to wit : the 
horse railroad, the gas company, and the water-works ; the late 
Estes Howe, a name associated with many Cambridge enter- 
prises of public interest and character ; Charles W. Munroe, 
whose father owned and improved a considerable amount of 
real estate in the city ; and their associates. The improvement 
of this property, by the laying out and building of streets, 
adapted it for manufacturing industries and mechanical enter- 
prises. The Grand Junction branch runs through the property 
from north to south, with a spur track to the eastward, so 
located as to offer ready facilities to works which may become 
established upon its line. Since the development of this prop- 
erty, the company has sold more than two million feet of its 
land. The George P. Blake Manufacturing Co., The Boston 
Bridge Co., The Boston Woven Hose Co., The American Rub- 
ber Co., and others, have purchased, erected plants, and estab- 
lished large businesses in these lands. Many of these manufac- 
turing plants were located in this locality after a thorough 
examination and exhaustive study ; as the proprietor of one of 
them said: 'Of the suburbs of Boston beginning at East Boston, 
and following the Boston and Albany Railroad through East 
Boston, Chelsea, Everett, Charlestown, Somerville, and Cam- 
bridge, and examining all vacant lands on railroads entering 
Boston not too remote for our purpose, the result of this careful 
examination was the choice of the present location of the works. 
The price was found very reasonable compared with any other 



A PROBLEM SOLVED. 315 

land so near Boston. We have at times made three round 
trips daily to different parts of Boston with heavily loaded 
teams. We have never regretted our choice of location, and 
believe that the steady and large growth of the business has 
been in no small degree due to the advantages of our situation. 
I have never been able to quite understand why those seeking 
choice situations for manufacturing plants have so far over- 
looked the exceptional advantages offered by this and other 
regions in Cambridge, unless it is due to the lack of proper 
public information.' 

" The foregoing testimony from one of the early settlers on 
these lands bears witness to the great advantages of locating in 
Cambridge industries of a kind for which its territory is so well 
adapted." 

Cambridge has a population of intelligent operatives, and its 
nearness to the labor-market of the great city of Boston relieves 
the manufacturer of the problem where to obtain skilled labor, 
— a problem that in many places is a difficult one to solve. 

Within the manufacturing district, and along the banks of 
the Charles River, Cambridge is building a system of parks, 
conveniently located and surrounding its entire territory. The 
workmen in the factories and the toilers in the shops thus have 
places easy of access, where throughout the hot summer months 
they can find green lawns, trees, sunlight, and fresh air, the 
necessary and welcome relief from the dusty streets and crowded 
tenements of a city. Every manufacturer will at once appre- 
ciate the effect of such parks upon the health, happiness, and 
morality of employees. 

Commercial Avenue, which the Park Department is now 
constructing, will connect Main Street with Bridge Street and 
Prison Point Street, Charlestown. It will border the East 
Cambridge Embankment Park, which is to be finished from 
plans similar to those used for the Charlesbank on the Boston 
side. Along this avenue and facing the park will be found 
most admirable sites for the location of model apartment houses 
and homes for the workman and mechanic. 

The educational facilities of Cambridge, its libraries and 
other institutions free to all, are fully described in the preced- 
ing chapters. They commend themselves to all manufacturers, 
for the greater the advantages given to their employees, the 
better will business interests be served. 



316 FINANCIAL AND MANUFACTURING. 

The Prospect Union is an institution that appeals directly 
to the wage-earner. It is located in the " old " city hall on 
Massachusetts Avenue. This institution is peculiar to Cam- 
bridge, and is made possible by the cooperation of professors, 
teachers, and students from Harvard University, who give their 
time freely and without pay to its work. Its president shows 
fully and clearly in his paper in another part of this volume 
the value of the work to the wage-earner, and hence to the 
enrployer and to the city. 

Another consideration that must have great influence in de- 
ciding a manufacturer to locate his business in Cambridge is 
the absence of the saloon. For ten years the people at the 
annual municipal elections have voted in favor of no license, 
and the effect upon the city is shown in many ways. Especially 
is there a marked decrease in the business of the police courts, 
and the large increase in the deposits in the savings banks, 
these deposits having increased from $6,136,257 in 1885 to 
$10,089,222 in 1896. 

In fire protection the department under Chief Casey is one of 
the most efficient in the State. It numbers forty -three perma- 
nent and eighty-eight call men, and has in service seven steam 
fire-engines, with five hose wagons and two hose carriages, 
two chemical engines, two hook-and-ladder trucks, one aerial 
truck, and twenty chemical extinguishers. Eight hundred 
and sixty-seven hydrants are available for fire purposes. It 
has also reserve or spare apparatus composed of one steam fire- 
engine, two hose carriages, and one ladder truck. The appro- 
priation for the maintenance of the department for 1896 is 
$85,500. 

Cambridge has a competent police force, consisting of a chief, 
three captains, one inspector, eight sergeants, and eighty-two 
patrolmen. Two sergeants and twenty-two patrolmen are on 
didy in the daytime, and six sergeants and sixty patrolmen 
during the night-time. The appropriation for the police de- 
partment for 1896 is $112,000. 

Cambridge is fortunate in the possession of an independent 
water supply of pure water. The natural daily yield of Fresh 
Pond is about 1,000,000 gallons, the maximum supply of water 
which can be furnished through the thirty-inch main from 
Stony Brook basin is 8,000,000 gallons per day. The con- 
sumption of water in 1895 averaged almost 6,000,000 gallons 



FIRE INSURANCE. 317 

per day. Considering the average annual increase in the use 
of water during the last eight years, the limit of the present 
supply will not be reached until 1901. By that time the Hobbs' 
Brook basin will be completed, and the storage capacity so 
enormously increased that it can then be safely stated that 
Cambridge will have sufficient water for her needs for the next 
quarter of a century. The water board has ever shown rare 
judgment and marked ability in managing its department. 

THE CAMBRIDGE MUTUAL FIRE INSURANCE CO. 

This company, which is now looked upon as one of the sub- 
stantial and successful financial institutions of our city, had 
rather a precarious existence for a number of years subsequent 
to its organization in 1833. It was established by some of the 
most worthy and prominent merchants of the town ; but not 
having had experience in the insurance business, they found 
hard work to keep the company alive. It however gave its 
policy holders indemnity for loss through the various years 
until 1850, by successive assessments, when new methods were 
adopted, and it gradually became stronger until the Boston fire 
of 1872 reduced its assets to about $50,000, with nearly 
15,000,000 at risk. 

During this time the company had long been under the presi- 
dency of the late Josiali W. Cook, with H. M. Chamberlain, 
Abram Lansing, Henry Thayer, and J. A. Smith as secretaries. 
In 1873 a change was made ; Mr. Cook becoming aged and 
feeble, the management was placed in the hands of Alfred L. 
Barbour as secretary, — a Cambridge young man who had been 
educated in the public schools of our city, and who with an 
able board of directors has managed it ever since. Upon the 
death of Mr. Cook, Dana W. Hyde was elected president, and 
the company has increased its assets from $50,000 to nearly 
$240,000, owning its present fine building next to the city 
hall, and about $150,000 invested in good securities. The 
company stands now among the best of the mutuals of the 
State. 



318 



FINANCIAL AND MANUFACTURING. 



Water is supplied to manufacturers at low rates, as is shown 
following 

Table of comparative water rates in twelve cities. 



in the following 











FAMILY RATES. 








METEB 


BATES. 






















■3 
3 


O 
















O) 






to 


o 
u 


P. 


s?'s 




















O 






>.o« 












3 


u 






u 


u 


3 


O 10 >> 




















c. 










o 
e> 

3 


3 

"3 


.d 


o 


.3 

"3 

■a 


la 
& 

■a 




a 

"8 
m 

3 


o 

M 

3 


a bo 


H 

3 
P. 

Pi 


"3 > ° 
bo° >> 

11 § 

^ ^ a 






•3 


+3 




o 


"3 


o 


a 
•3 


c3 

"3 

3 


c3 q 

3fe 


,13 . 


§5i 






73 


C8 






■o 




a 




0) P* 


s M 






N 


< 


n 


& 


<1 


■4 


w 

$5.00 


a 


a 


0G 


•«! 


Oh 


Cambridge, Muss. 


$4.00 


$2.00 


$5.00 


$3.0(1 


S3.dll 


$2.00 


$20.00 


He. 


2c. 3c. lc. 


Fall River. 


5.00 


2.50 


5.00 


5.00 


4.00 


3.00 


6.00 


30.50 


3c. for all purposes. 


Fitchburg. 


6.00 


2.00 


4.50 


5.00 


3.00 


3.00 


5.00 


28.50 


3Jc. for all purposes. 


Lowell. 


6.00 




ave. 
3.00 


ave. 
3.00 


1.00 


2.00 


3.00 


No 
limit 


Varies from year to year. 


Lynn. 


5.00 


1.00 


3.00 


3.00 


2.00 


2.00 


4.00 


24.00 


2c. for all purposes. 


Springfield. 


8.00 


6.00 


4.00 


4.00 


2.00 


2.00 


5.00 


31.00 


3c. for all purposes. 


Worcester. 


6.00 




5.00 


4.00 


2.00 


2.00 


5.00 


24.00 


2jC. for all purposes. 


Hartford, Conn. 


6.00 




1.00 


3.00 




1.00 


3.00 


No 


2c. for all purposes. 


Providence, R. I. 


6.00 


2.00 


5.00 


5.00 


3.00 


3.00 


5.00 


40.00 


2ic. average rate. 


Manchester, N. H. 


5.00 


1.00 


2.50 


1.25 


2.50 


1.25 


5.00 


No 


2c. 




Portland, Me. 


10.00 




5.00 


6.00 


2.50 


3.00 


5.00 


40.00 


- 


_ 


Erie, Pa. 


5.00 


1.50 


3.00 


3.00 


1.00 


1.50 


5.00 


No 
limit 


lc. average rate. 



COMPARATIVE FIGURES. 



319 



The valuation of Cambridge and its assets and liabilities are 
also of interest in connection with this chapter on manufac- 
turing. 

Statement of the valuations of the personal 'property and real 
estate of the City of Cambridge, with the number of jiolls, 
dwellings, and rate of taxation for the past ten years : — 



Year. 


Polls. 


Personal. 


Real Estate. 


Total. 


Dwellings. 


Rate per 
$1000. 


1886 


16,534+ 


$14,490,470 


$4 t,955,200 


$59,445,670 


9,398 


$15.00 


1887 


17,1391 
18,0S6§ 


13,358,910 


46,344,700 


59,703,610 


9,761 


16.00 


1888 


14,296,740 


48,420,600 


62,717,340 


9,927 


15.00 


1889 


18,307+ 


14,960,100 


50,324,175 


65,284,275 


10,222 


16.00 


1890 


19,221| 


15,339,925 


52,235,000 


67,574,925 


10,615 


15.60 


1891 


20,731* 


16,508,770 


54,167,914 


70,676,684 


10,932 


15,50 


1892 


22,01 3± 


17,687,595 


56,668,100 


74,355,695 


11,359 


16.00 


1893 


22,752 


17,511,089 


58,782,900 


76,293,989 


11,768 


16.40 


1894 


22,172 


16,658,320 


60,877,300 


77,535,620 


12,262 


15.80 


1895 


22,781 


16,607,360 


64,303,700 


80,911,060 


12,305 


15.70 



Comparative statement by decades from 1855 to 1895. 





1855. 


1865. 


1875. 


1885. 


1895. 


Population . . . 


20,637 


29,112 


47.83S 


59,660 


81,519 


Valuation . . . 


$15,437,100.00 


$26,085,900.00 


166,623,014.00 


$55,346,555.00 


$80,911,060.00 


City Tax . . . 


100,604.53 


267,708.60 


1,060,396.52 


804,800.00 


1,103,455.30 


County Tax . . 


10,137.7S 


18,280.99 


37,580.73 


29,381.54 


73,887.84 


State Tax . . . 


5,190.00 


118,487.00 


58,880.00 


44,835.00 


46,800.00 


Tax rate per 












$1000 .... 


7.10 


15.00 


17.00 


15.50 


15.70 


Total Expendi- 












tures .... 


173,533.58 


536,911.82 


2,005,207.74 


2,354,298.69 


3,686,702.54 


City Debt . . . 


146,600.00 


833,092.00 


4,106,843.21 


2,361,396.50 


3,913,634.23 


Expenditures by 












Departments : — 












Bridges . . . 


890.31 


9,007.77 


39,068.39 


11,829.77 


16,297.33 


Cemeteries . . 


6,553.67 


16,742.29 


19,438.66 


80,399.22 


16,999.40 


Eire Dept. . . 


9,623.70 


21,958.74 


89,949.99 


59,341.15 


104,898.59 


Lighting Streets 


2.9S7.32 


9,062.24 


20,919.04 


32,269.07 


69,926.61 


Pauper Dept. . 


8,520.41 


21,481.52 


79,719.54 


56,338.24 


100,841.33 


Police Dept. 


4,499.56 


22,833.14 


71,093.35 


78,357.73 


110,784.22 


Public Library . 




1,111.77 


6,040.04 


6,643.51 


21,034.83 


Schools . . . 


32,169.16 


81.842.47 


258,985.15 


227,511.77 


362,353.79 


Sewers . . . 


4,610.68 


3,683.07 


135,432.28 


40,945.40 


149,459.89 


Streets . . . 


14,554.73 


35,638.38 


155,476.90 


148,0SS.65 


252,154.62 


Water-Works . 




20,327.79 


234,431.03 


485,691.04 


758,054.81 



320 



FINANCIAL AND MANUFACTURING. 



Balance Sheet of the City of Cambridge, December 1, 1895, 
showing Assets and Liabilities. 





Assets. 


Liabilities. 


City of Cambridge (city property) .... 

Daniel White Charity (trust fund) .... 
Dowse Institute Fund (trust fund) .... 


$33,657.39 

3,552,188.88 
268,516.87 

511,816.53 

546,049.24 

267,320.13 

17,470.37 


$200,000.00 

5,000.00 

10,000.00 

2,756,000.00 

2,215,500.00 
10,000.00 




Sanders Temperance Fund (trust fund) . . . 








519 41 








$5,197,019.41 


$5,197,019.41 



The following- is a schedule of property used for religious, 
charitable, and educational purposes, and exempt from taxation 
by law, not including that owned by the city of Cambridge, as 
shown on the assessors' books November 30, 1885 : — 



Churches ..... 
Young Men's Christian Association 
Charitable Institutions 
Cambridge Hospital . 
Longfellow Memorial Association 
County buildings 
Harvard University 
Radcliffe College 
Episcopal Theological School . 
New-Church Theological School . 
Catholic Schools 
Cambridge Social Union 
Miscellaneous .... 



$1,522,700.00 

18,025.00 

258,006.01 

211,794.71 

62,442.14 

622,000.00 

8,740,848.00 

233,000.00 

368,840.41 

134,039.00 

300,400.00 

18,700.00 

34,400.00 



$12,525,195.27 



THE FIRST TYPICAL RAILWAY CAR. 321 

Manufacturing' in Cambridge in the early part of the present 
century was confined principally to soap, cordage, and leather. 
In 1828 a young man named Charles Davenport, then but 
sixteen years of age, was apprenticed to George W. Randall, 
of Cambridgeport, to learn the woodwork of the coach and 
carriage making trade. In 1832 Captain E. Kimball and 
he bought Mr. Randall out, and he started for himself with 
two journeymen and four apprentices. Captain Kimball was 
landlord of the Pearl Street Hotel, and, in connection with a 
livery stable, ran a coach two or three times a day between 
Cambridge and Boston. He furnished the money. Mr. Daven- 
port thereafter built all the carriages of the establishment. In 
1833-34 the firm built a large number of all kinds of vehicles, 
including sleighs, and the first omnibus built in New England. 
In 1831 they took the contract to build some four-wheel rail- 
way cars for the Boston & Worcester Railroad, to seat twenty- 
four people each. They were the first ever designed with a pas- 
sageway running from end to end between the seats. 

In 1836-37 he built for the Eastern Railroad twenty four- 
wheel cars with platforms and doors on the ends and a passage 
through each car. His shop at this time was located on Main 
Street, where the Morse Building now stands. The firm names 
of Kimball & Davenport and Davenport & Bridges will long* 
be remembered by railroad men. Mr. Davenport was the first 
large car-builder in the United States, and the first typical 
American railway passenger car was built in Cambridge from 
his design. 



322 



FINANCIAL AND MANUFACTURING. 



The following table, made from figures obtained from Horace 
G. Wadlin, Chief of the Bureau of Statistics of Labor, shows 
the amount of manufacturing in Cambridge in decades since 
1845. A fair estimate of the industrial product at the present 
time would place the amount at fully 150,000,000. 

MANUFACTURES IN CAMBRIDGE FOR THE YEAR 
ENDING APRIL 1, 1845. 



Goods Made. 


"sl 


Value. 


Capital 


° 2 




s - 




Invested. 


fe o. 




3 -2 






C* 3 




55 1 






w 


Ice-cutters or ice-plows 


1 


$1,128 j 


$300 


2 


Latches and door-handles 


1 


1,500 


150 


4 


Glass 


3 


334,000 


362,000 


241 


Starch 


1 


S,450 


3,000 


4 


Chemical preparat ions 


2 


20,250 


2,200 


9 


Musical instruments 


1 


6,000 


2,500 


7 


Brushes 


3 


18,000 


4,300 


81 


Saddles, harnesses, and trunks 


9 


10,630 


2,450 


16 


Upholstery 


1 


1,000 


200 . 


1 


Hats and caps 


4 


24,500 


7,700 


31 


Cordage 


4 


31,000 


3,600 


32 


Railroad cars, coaches, and other 










vehicles 


20 


208,000 


33.000 


127 


Soap and tallow candles 


19 


358,:!4T 


191,100 


96 


Chairs and cabinet ware 


4 


14,000 


3,500 


19 


Tinware 


6 


10,800 


4,200 


13 


Leather 


6 


18,700 


5,100 


20 


Boots and shoes 


- 


45,596 


- 


91 


Brick 


- 


86,460 


- 


168 


Snuff, tobacco, and cigars 


- 


47,000 


- 


67 


Whips 


- 


700 


- 


1 


Blacking 


- 


4,200 


- 


2 


Blocks and pumps 


- 


650 


- 


2 


Mechanics' tools 


- 


2,000 


- 


4 


Fancy and shaving soap 


- 


10,000 


3,000 


5 


Oil bleached 


- 


95,000 


17,000 


10 


Pocketbooks 


- 


2,500 


500 


4 


Confectionery 


- 


29,400 


6,000 


18 


Earthenware 


- 


2,000 


300 


2 


Ladders 


- 


1,500 


200 


3 


Sashes, blinds, etc. 


- 


11,600 


2,600 


14 


Marble monuments, chimney-pieces, 










etc. 


- 


1,800 


1,000 


3 


Paper hangings 


- 


10,500 


2,300 


16 


Astral lamps 


- 


500 


100 


1 


Stoves 


- 


3,000 


2.000 


4 


Fringes and tassels 


- 


15,000 


2,000 


50 


Surgical and other instruments 


- 


20,000 


10,000 


20 


Barrels 


- 


1.620 


400 


3 


Strong beer 


- 


6,000 


1,000 


2 


Saws, hatchets, and other edge tools 


1 


40,000 


25,000 


18 



MANUFACTURES IN CAMBRIDGE. 



323 



Goods Made. 


o 3 
S a 


Value. 


Capital 
Invested. 


3 (D 

Si" 

fu g 


Shovels, spades, forks, and hoes 

Cards 

Firewood prepared 

Woolen and cotton stuffs, silk and 

cotton handkerchiefs 
Dyewoods, drugs, and spices 
Mahogany turned and sawed 


2 

1 
3 
2 


2,000 

41,400 

450 

150,000 

418,800 

22,000 

$2,137,981 


1,000 
25,000 

15,000 
27,000 
10,000 


2 
7 
2 

20 
13 

14 




94 


$776,700 


1,269 



MANUFACTURES IN CAMBRIDGE FOR THE YEAR 
ENDING JUNE 1, 1855. 





■sl 






a * 


Goods Made. 




Value. 


Capital 






S 3 




Invested. 


S g. 




3 ■? 






cm S 




* 1 






a 


Iron railing-, iron fences, and iron 










safes 


1 


$1,200 


$1,000 


4 


Britannia ware 


1 


40,000 


25,000 


25 


Glass 


2 


620,000 


575,000 


531 


Starch 


1 


14,000 


4,000 


4 


Chemical preparations 


2 


4,600 


2,500 


4 


Pianoforte actions 


3 


10,000 


4,000 


10 


Church organs 


1 


12,000 


4,000 


8 


Brushes 


3 


192,200 


114,000 


208 


Saddles, harnesses, and trunks 


6 


15.300 


5,200 


14 


Upholstery 


1 


3,000 


2,000 


3 


Hats and caps 


5 


- 


16,500 


58 


Cordage 


1 


- 


6,000 


10 


Railroad cars, coaches, chaises, 










wagons, sleighs, and other vehicles 


7 


137,700 


17,800 


93 


Oil 


2 


126,000 


30,000 


7 


Soap and tallow candles 


16 




1,300,000 


140 


Chairs and cabinet ware 


5 


128,500 


68,000 


168 


Tinware 


7 


27,700 


15,200 


23 


Linseed oil 


1 


90,000 


50,000 


10 


Hides tanned 


1 


2,500 


1,500 


3 


Leather curried 


2 


90,000 


20,000 


18 


Boots and shoes 


- 


23,600 


- 


51 


Brick 


- 


1,834,000 


- 


- 


Snuff, tobacco, and cigars 


- 


388,700 


- 


42 


Building stone 


- 


67,000 


- 


72 


Blocks and pumps 


- 


10,000 


- 


4 


Sashes, doors, and blinds 


1 


7,000 


2,000 


7 


Gas 


1 


20,000 


100,000 


6 



324 



FINANCIAL AND MANUFACTURING. 



Goods Made. 



Bread 
Type 

Boxes (soap, candle, and paper) 
Ladders 
Feather dusters 
Printing- and bookbinding- 
Confectionery 
Leather dressing 
Wood-turning 
Sweep sawing 
Planing-raills 
Cigar boxes 
Bacon 

Penrhyn marble 
Wash leather 
Shovels and ladders 
Clothes and fish lines 
Marble 

Persian sherbet 
Pulpits 
Cement 
Saws 
Cards 

Woolen goods 
Mechanical tools 






108 



167,500 

71,000 

84,000 

8,1 M H ) 

5,000 

175,000 

110,000 

10,000 

25,000 

45,000 

12,000 

8,000 

60,000 

125,000 

6,000 

5,000 

5,000 

10,000 

7.000 

6,000 

40.000 
2,000 

18,600 
1,000 



$4,821,100 



Capital 
Invested. 



17.000 

64,000 

3,000 

1,000 

41.000 

30,000 

5,000 
10,000 

L'0,000 

4,000 

2,000 

23,000 

I ',0.0(10 

2,500 

2,000 
2.000 
4,000 

10.000 

2,500 

1,000 

30,000 

1,000 



$2,698,700 



44 

95 

36 

20 

5 

120 

18 

3 

2 

4 

6 

2 

30 

35 

4 

4 

6 

6 

3 

5 

2 

35 

2 

25 

1 



2,036 



MANUFACTURES IN CAMBRIDGE FOR 
ENDING MAY 1, 1865. 



THE YEAR 



Number of establishments 173 

Value of goods made $6,942,063 1 

Capital invested 2,447,559 l 

Value of stock used 2,918.439 1 

Males employed 2.710 

Females employed 429 

1 Currency values, average gold being §1.57. 



SUNDRY FIGURES. 



325 



MANUFACTURES IN CAMBRIDGE FOR THE YEAR 
ENDING MAY 1, 1875. 





r of 
nents. 




Value of Goods 


Goods Made. 


X £ 


Capital 


Made and 




M 

2 


Invested. 1 


Work Done. 1 


Artists'materials 


$400 


82,672 


Barrels 


1 


30,000 


201,000 


Barrels and harnesses 


2 


57,500 


56,650 


Boats 


1 


2,500 


18,000 


Boilers, tanks, etc. 


2 


55,000 


180,550 


Boots and shoes 


7 


3,150 


9,135 


Bookbinding 


2 


72,000 


435,300 


Book and pamphlet printing 


3 


420,000 


551,000 


Bread, cake, and pastry 


13 


46,800 


261,222 


Brick 


7 


513,000 


249,275 


Britannia ware, stationers' hard- 








ware, etc. 


1 


30,000 


33,000 


Brooms 


2 


1,500 


9,375 


Brushes 


3 


90,000 


221,000 


Buildings 


8 


105,000 


377,500 


Carriages, wagons, sleighs, etc. 





55,500 


83,885 


Car springs 


1 


6,000 


12,000 


Car wheels 


1 


20,000 


34,000 


Cigars 


12 


12,300 


49,978 


Clothing, men's 


6 


14,550 


79,900 


Coffins, robes, etc. 


2 


100,500 


175,350 


Collars and cuffs, paper 


1 


140,000 


550,000 


Confectionery and ice cream 


5 


22,081 


131,375 


Cordage 


3 


650 


9,700 


Crackers 


2 


92,000 


500,000 


Diaries 


1 


130,000 


150,000 


Drain pipes, chimney tops, etc. 


1 


10,000 


75,000 


Earthenware 


2 


60,700 


60,000 


Engine polish, boiler composition, 








etc. 


1 


500 


5,000 


Fishing-rods 


1 


50 


1,050 


Furniture, house, church, and office 


10 


150,300 


616,837 


Furnace registers and borders 


1 


3,000 


8,725 


Gas 


1 


950,000 


248,100 


Glassware 


2 


500,000 


370,500 


Glass syringes, tubes, etc. 


1 


500 


5,000 


Hardware 


1 


10,000 


15,750 


Hats and bonnets, women's 


1 


500 


800 


Ice 


2 


125,000 


32,500 


Iron castings 


1 


10,000 


40,000 


Iron rolled 


1 


160,000 


420,000 


Ladders, steps, clothes driers, etc. 


2 


15,000 


10,500 


Leather 


5 


110,000 


605,646 


Lumber planed, etc. 


1 


10,000 


50,000 


Machinery 


4 


386,000 


480,493 


Mats, door 


1 


4,000 


8,000 


Medicines, proprietary 


2 


108,000 


170,000 


Monuments, mantels, tablets, etc. 


7 


91,500 


13S,080 



1 Figures being in currency, average gold being $1.12. 



326 



FINANCIAL AND MANUFACTURING. 





O (J) , 

<- 2 




Value of Goods 


Goods Made. 




Capital 


Made and 




Is 


Invested. 1 


Work Done. 1 


Mouldings, brackets, boxes, etc. 


3 


265,000 


231,000 


Newspapers, magazines, etc. 


6 


35,000 


103,600 


Oil clothing and waterproof hats 


1 


9,000 


35,000 


Oleomargarine and stearine 


1 


50.000 


69,000 


Organs, cabinet and church 


3 


571,000 


1,036,000 


Patterns, wooden 


1 


200 


1,000 


Photographs 


1 


5,000 


15,000 


Pianofortes 


1 


10,000 


6,060 


Pianoforte actions 


2 


12,000 


33,200 


Piano and organ key-boards 


1 


33,000 


137,604 


Piano taborets 


1 


400 


4,000 


Picture frames 


3 


5,300 


10,700 


Pocketbooks 


1 


1,000 


6,195 


Printing, job 


3 


21,000 


27,500 


Pumps, wooden 


1 


300 


250 


Roofing cement 


2 


6,000 


17,500 


Rum 


1 


45,000 


199,347 


Sausages 


3 


5,500 


31,000 


Shirts, cuffs, and collars 


1 


550 


7,500 


Shirts, overalls, and jumpers 


1 


1,000 


4,000 


Slippers 


1 


10,000 


120,000 


Soap, tallow, and candles 


9 


168,500 


928,800 


Spring-beds and cots 


2 


18,000 


51,300 


Stair rails, balusters, etc. 


2 


4,500 


22,550 


Steel engravings 


1 


2,000 


4,000 


Sugar refined 


1 


500,000 


4,000,000 


Telescopes 


1 


20,000 


10,000 


Tinware 


5 


204,850 


321,068 


Trunks and valises 


1 


3,000 


14,S0O 


Tools for ice-cutting 


2 


4,500 


9,790 


Wood, sawed and turned 


1 


65,000 


80,000 


Washstands and woodwork for 








sewing-machines 


1 


700 


1,550 


Whips 


1 


300 


1,200 


Aggregates 


210 


$6,803,081 


$15,284,362 



1 Figures being in currency, average gold being $1.12. 



VALUE 1 OF BUILDINGS USED FOR MANUFACTURING 
PURPOSES. STOCK ON HAND, AND MACHINERY IN 
CAMBRIDGE FOR THE YEAR ENDING MAY 1, 1875. 



Number of establishments ......... 207 

Value of buildings $1,644,025 

Value of average stock on hand ........ 2,215,412 

Value of machinery ......... 1,0(1,060 

Value of imported machinery ........ 5,700 

1 In currency, average gold being $1.12. 



SUNDRY FIGURES. 



327 



NUMBER OF ESTABLISHMENTS ENGAGED IN MANU- 
FACTURING IN CAMBRIDGE DURING THE YEAR 
ENDING JUNE 30, 1885. 





£ 




CO 




o "^ 




•si 


Industries. 




Industries. 


si 

3:3 




= 5 
* 1 




= -2 


Artificial teeth and dental work 


11 


Liquors : malt, distilled, and fer- 




Artisans' tools 


1 


mented 


5 


Boots and shoes 


33 


Lumber 


1 


Boxes (paper and wooden) 


6 


Machines and machinery 


10 


Brick, tiles, and sewer pipe 


7 


Metals and metallic goods 


51 


Brooms, brushes, and mops 


O 

o 


Musical instruments and mate- 




Building 


121 


rials 


9 


Burial cases, caskets, etc. 


5 


Paints, colors, and crude chemi- 




Carpetings 


2 


cals 


i 


Carriages and wagons 


31 


Photographs and photographic 




Cement, kaolin, lime, and plaster 


2 


materials 


7 


Chemical preparations (com- 




Printing, publishing, and book- 




pounded) 


2 


binding 


15 


Clothing 


U7 


Railroad construction 


1 


Cooking, lighting, and heating 




Rubber and elastic goods 


1 


apparatus 


1 


Scientific instruments and appli- 




Cordage and twine 


3 


ances 


3 


Drugs and medicines 


28 


Shipbuilding 


2 


D3 T estuffs 


1 


Sporting and athletic goods 


1 


Earthen, plaster, and stone ware 


2 


Stone 


15 


Fine arts and taxidermy 


1 


Tallow, candles, soap, and 




Food preparations 


4."> 


grease 


12 


Furniture 


24 


Tobacco, snuff, and cigars 


13 


Gas and residual products 


1 


Trunks and valises 


1 


Glass 


2 


Whips, lashes, and stocks 


1 


Hair work (animal and human) 


1 


Wooden goods 


13 


Hose : ruhher, linen etc. 


1 






Leather 


15 


All industries 


578 



328 



FINANCIAL AND MANUFACTURING. 



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332 FINANCIAL AND MANUFACTURING. 

PRINTING AND PUBLISHING. 

The history of printing in Cambridge shows conclusively that as a 
centre of the art the city has no rival of its size in the world. The 
combined output from the three great establishments, The Riverside 
Press, The University Press, and The Athenaeum Press is enormous, 
and " the civilizing and educating influence thus exerted can hardly 
be exaggerated." 

The first printing in the colonies was done in Cambridge, and is 
described in the following extracts from an address made to the mem- 
bers of the Citizens' Trade Association, in 1894, by the late Henvy O. 
Houghton. 

hox. h. o. houghton's address. 

The first printing in the English-speaking colonies of this country 
was done here in Cambridge. The history of its progress is very 
interesting. 

A clergyman by the name of Glover left England with a printing- 
press, two or three workmen, and his family, for this country in 1638. 
He died on the passage, and the jjress was set up in January, 1639, in 
the house of the first president of Harvard College, Henry Dunster. 
This president was a man with an eye to the main chance, and he 
secured possession of the press by marrying the widow of the man who 
started from England with it, and he retained possession of it for 
many years. Some years afterwards, when the son of this widow had 
grown up, he brought suit for the recovery of the press. The president 
filed an account current in which he debited himself with an inventory 
of the press amounting to fourteen hundred and odd pounds sterling. 
He credited himself with his wife's board and several other incidental 
expenses, which looked very much as if he wanted to make as good an 
offset as possible. The difference between the two accounts amounted 
to about one hundred pounds, for which the president acknowledged 
himself as a debtor. The matter seems to have been taken out of the 
court and put into the hands of arbitrators, but there is no record of 
the president paying over to the heirs the amount adjudged against 
him. Some time after the receipt of the first press another was sent 
over by some society instituted for propagating the gospel among the 
Indians of this continent, and this press also fell into the hands of the 
president of the college, and the Indians are still unconverted. Pres- 
ident Dunster also seemed to have great political influence, for he had 
a law passed that all the printing executed in the colonies should be 
done in Cambridge. There was also a law passed by the General 
Court appointing licensers of the press, and my impression is that the 
president was appointed on this board also, but of this fact I have not 



PRINTING AND PUBLISHING. 333 

been able to find sufficient corroboration. Stephen Daye was appar- 
ently an employee of the president. He was not a successful printer. 
He did not know how to spell or punctuate, or- to do a great many 
things tbat printers are expected to do. He was soon after dismissed 
from the office. He then became a real-estate agent. Among other 
transactions he sold twenty-seven acres of land for a cow, a calf, and 
a three-year-old heifer. He also owned land in the outlying districts, 
mainly in Lancaster, Mass. In my judgment Mr. Daye was not in 
any sense the first printer. The first printer was Dunster. Although 
he did not set up type (it is not quite certain that Stephen Daye him- 
self did), he was the controlling power of the press, and so far as a 
man who marries a printing press, and has control of it, can be called 
a printer, Dunster was that printer. After Mr. Daye left the press, 
which was very soon after new relations had been established, a man 
by the name of Greene, who came over with Winthrop, and was one of 
the boys of the town, became the manager of the press. He proved 
to be a very energetic man. He had chai'ge of the press for forty 
years. He was elected captain of the militia of the town, and held 
that position for thirty years. After Greene died, for nearly seventy- 
five years, there was no printing press in Cambridge. 

After the failure of the first press, a wonderful change took place 
in the colonies. While it existed, the press of Cambridge seemed to 
have a paralyzing influence on all enterprises of the kind. There 
were no newspapers and no other enterprises in the way of printing 
until after this press failed. It failed because it was a great mo- 
nopoly. Immediately afterwards newspapers sprang up in Boston, 
Worcester, and other places, and soon after a press was established in 
Philadelphia and finally in New York. Franklin quarreled with his 
brother at Boston, and was driven to Philadelphia, and Bradford, on 
account of a quarrel with his brother Quakers, was driven to New 
York. So anxious were these people to find evidence against Brad- 
ford on account of his printing heretical matter in his newspaper, that 
they held up the form of type in order to see what was printed ; but in 
doing this pied the type and destroyed the evidence against him. All 
these apparently little causes led to great residts. The establishment 
of the newspaper led to the discussion of political questions, and those 
led eventually to the Revolutionary War. 

This is from an informal address not intended for publication, but it is the 
only possible contribution from one tvhose chief interests were towards furthering 
the welfare of the city and the artistic improvement of the printing art. 

Mr. John Wilson contributes the following interesting facts in regard 
to his father's important share in the improvement of American book- 
making : — 



334 FINANCIAL AND MANUFACTURING. 

When the mechanical execution of the books of fifty years ago is 
compared with that of to-day, every" one must admit the superiority of 
the latter. This improvement was the result of various causes, among 
which I may mention the part taken by my father. As a man and an 
artist John Wilson, Sr., was an Old World product, possessing the lib- 
eral tendency and breadth of view of the New World. He combined 
with thorough mechanical training an excellent artistic taste, and also 
an intellectual appreciation of a good book, both in its literary and 
technical construction, which is rare either among printers or publish- 
ers. Indeed, his literary instinct amounted to a passion, so that he 
soon became (all by his unaided efforts) a scholar as well as a me- 
chanic ; and as Elihu Burritt was called " the learned blacksmith," so 
John Wilson, Sr., might truly have been called " the learned printer," 
knowing not only his own art to perfection, but knowing also the 
Hebrew, Greek, Latin, French, and German languages ; and being not 
only the maker of books for others, but the author himself of several. 
His "Treatise on Punctuation" is an acknowledged authority on the 
subject. Emigrating from England to the United States in 1846, he 
established himself in business in Boston, the firm name being John 
Wilson & Son. Even before his removal to Cambridge, his fame as a 
skillful and artistic printer was wide-reaching ; and this, in connection 
with the intelligence and enterprise of others, — notably Welch and 
Bigelow, and the Hon. H. 0. Houghton, — served to give an impetus 
to an art already well advanced, which seemed, especially from that 
time, to gain renewed vigor and to make more rapid strides than it had 
done for many generations in the making of beautiful books. This 
marked improvement in the art of printing in this country was doubt- 
less due in great measure to the honorable competition of the three 
Cambridge houses, — the University Press, the Riverside Press, and 
the Wilson Press. 

THE RIVERSIDE PRESS. 

The publishing house of Houghton, Mifflin & Co. has its offices in 
Boston, New York, and Chicago, but its manufactory and shipping 
department are in Cambridge, and the manufacture of books, whether 
for the Boston house or for other publishers, is carried on at the estab- 
lishment known as The Riverside Press. The estate on Blackstone 
Street comprises a tract of ground about four acres in extent. The 
buildings are separated from the public highway by a large open 
inclosure, and the Park system, when completed, w r ill provide a wide 
roadway by the place. The river itself affords an important water- 
way, so that coal is brought in bulk and stored in capacious sheds on 
the bank. The original building, a three-story structure of brick, 
sixty feet by forty, may be distinguished from the pile in which it is 




lip i j >% 







^«s®s^= 



The Riverside Press in* 18">2. 




The Riverside Press in 1896. 



THE RIVERSIDE PRESS. 335 

imbedded by its old-fashioned style, and its domestic dormer windows. 
It is connected with the fireproof warehouses that stand on the bank 
of the river and forms an extension of the main building, which has 
a frontage on the east of one hundred and seventy feet, and on the 
north nearly as great. In addition to this main building, the original 
structure, and the connected line of warehouses, there is a brick safe 
one story high for the storage of electrotype and stereotype plates, 
a capacious engine and boiler house, and a large building where the 
lithographic department is housed. This building is two hundred feet 
long by seventy-five in width for half its length, and forty-five feet 
in width for the remainder. It has a high basement, and one lofty 
story lighted with a monitor roof. 

The distribution of material and apparatus and the organization 
of work in these several buildings is planned to secure the greatest 
safety to property, the least possible handling of books in their pro- 
cess of manufacture, and the best conditions of healthy work on the 
part of the large number of men, women, and boys employed in this 
industry. The separation of the group from other buildings and its 
free space give the establishment a large immunity from the danger 
of fire, and the concentration of power also lessens the danger and 
economizes the force. A Corliss engine of one hundred horse-power 
operates the entire machinery in all the buildings, — for the great 
detached lithographic building seventy-five feet away is connected by 
a tunnel with the main group. Steam is supplied by three upright 
boilers, each of one hundred horse-power. Two Knowles steam fire- 
pumps are always in readiness for use. All of the buildings are con- 
nected by automatic fire alarms, as also with the city fire department. 
The Grinnell automatic sprinkler is in place throughout, and a fire 
brigade, composed of sixty-five men employed at the Press, is kept in 
constant training. This department is under the charge of one of the 
firm, who not only makes repeated tests of the order of the apparatus 
but calls out the fire-brigade from time to time on false alarms. 
Thus the men are kept in practice. Electricity is used throughout in 
lighting the premises. 

The founder of the business, which now employs some seven hun- 
dred persons, was the late Henry Oscar Houghton, at one time mayor 
of Cambridge, and a resident of the city for nearly fifty years, till his 
death in 1895. The office was first established in 1849 in Remington 
Street, but more room was soon needed, and Mr. Brown, of the pub- 
lishing firm of Little, Brown & Co., bought the original premises on 
Blackstone Street, formerly used by Cambridge as a house for the 
town poor, and standing almost in the open country. Mr. Houghton 
and Mr. Brown were desirous of giving the new press a significant 
name, and tried various experiments till Mr. Brown said one day : 



336 FINANCIAL AND MANUFACTURING. 

" This press stands by the side of the Charles River ; why not call it 
The Riverside Press?" and this 'most natural name was then given 
it, so that now the term Riverside has come to cover a thickly pop- 
ulated district and to be applied to various neighboring industries. 

THE UNIVERSITY PRESS. 

The history of the University Press at Cambridge dates back to 
1639, making it the oldest book-printing establishment in America. 
One of the earliest books issued by the Press while under the charge 
of Samuel Greene is still in existence, being cherished as a valued 
relic of the printer's art in the -Massachusetts Historical Society. 
The volume is entitled " The General Laws and Liberties of the 
Massachusetts Colony," revised and reprinted by order of the General 
Court holden in Boston, May 15, 1672, according to the printed state- 
ment of Edward Rawson, secretary. The imprint shows that the 
book was printed in Cambridge by Samuel Greene, for John Usher 
of Boston, in 1672. The type on the title page is included within a 
double rule border. Its covers are of the sort that legal books of a 
century ago were generally inclosed within, and the frayed edges of 
the leaves are the color of sienna. The leaves are untrimmed. The 
book is about 13 by 7 by l£ inches, — a medium folio of its day. The 
typographical characters are peculiar when contrasted with the present 
art of type-casting, being poorly cut and liable to get out of alignment. 
That the Press had a considerable variety of fonts of type is apparent 
when one glances at this book of 1672. Mr. Greene had some strange 
ornamental cuts in his office, one of which embellished the first page 
of matter in the book. It shows two cherubs puffing their cheeks into 
trumpets at a grim skeleton just emerging from an open coffin. 

Other notable books printed by the Press during its early years 
were the " Indian New Testament," in 1661, and the " Indian Bible," 
in 1663, the second edition of which was in press six years, and was 
issued in 1685. 

Mr. Greene died in 1701, and after his death no printing was done 
in Cambridge until 1761, when the Press was reestablished by the 
college, and was maintained by it or by private parties up to 1803, by 
which time it had gained firm foundation. The college catalogue 
bearing this date was undoubtedly printed at the University Press, 
and the catalogue of 1805 shows that William Hilliard was in charge 
of the printing at that time. In 1811 an edition of Dalzel's " Col- 
lectanea Graeca Majora " was printed by the Press. Its imprint shows 
that Eliab W. Metcalf had become associated with Mr. Hilliard at 
this time. 

Two years later, Charles Folsom, a graduate of the class of 1813, 
and Librarian of the college from 1823 to 182(5, became identified with 




Athenaeum Press. 




The University Press. 



THE UNIVERSITY AND ATHENAEUM PRESSES. 337 

the Press, and his scholarship did much to increase the high reputa- 
tion it had already gained for accuracy and elegance of workmanshij). 
At this time nearly all the text-books used in the college were printed 
here. Mr. Folsom became known as the " Harvard Aldus," and 
during his proprietorship books were printed in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, 
French, Italian, German, and Spanish. Among other books issued 
at this time may be mentioned Sparks's edition of Washington's 
Writings, and his " American Biography," and Prescott's histories. 

In 1842 the Press passed into the hands of Charles R. Metcalf, 
Omen S. Keith, and George Nichols, but within a year or two Mr. 
Keith retired, and Marshall T. Bigelow entered the firm. In 1859 
the firm-name was changed to Welch, Bigelow & Co., and as such 
gained a still wider reputation for skilled book-making. In 1879 John 
Wilson and Charles E. Wentworth became the proprietors, and largely 
increased the capacity of the Press by adding to it the well-known 
establishment of John Wilson & Son. 

During these years many remarkable books were produced. The 
productions of Holmes, Sparks, Prescott, Ticknor, Palfrey, Judge 
Story, Quincy, Everett, Hilliard, Dana, Longfellow, Hawthorne, Whit- 
tier, Emerson, Lowell, and many others, first issued from this press, 
gave evidence of its well-earned reputation for accuracy and scholar- 
ship. 

In 1895 the Press was incorporated under the laws of Massachu- 
setts, with John Wilson as president, and Henry White as treasurer. 
In order to give enlarged opportunities for executing work, the plant 
has just moved into a commodious brick building near its old loca- 
tion, facing the Charles River. The new plant is equipped with the 
most modern improvements, being the first in New England to intro- 
duce individual electric motors for power for each separate press 
or machine. This is but in keeping with its previous history, as the 
first Adams and the first Hoe stop-cylinder presses made in this coun- 
try were used by the University Press. The process of electrotyping 
early superseded the old system of stereotyping at the University Press, 
and has here been brought to its highest state of perfection. 

ATHENAEUM PRESS. 

That certain portions of Cambridge offer exceptional advantages to 
manufacturers is clearly demonstrated by the recent action of Ginn & 
Co., the well known schoolbook publishers. After very careful exami- 
nation of all available land in and about Boston, they finally decided 
that on the banks of the Charles River, within a radius of one mile 
from the State House, was the best possible location for their extensive 
publishing plant. Here they obtained land at a reasonable price with 
abundant light, so difficult to secure in the crowded city and so essen- 



338 FINANCIAL AND MANUFACTURING. 

tial to the best quality of work. Near by are all the great freight 
stations, affording the best advantages for shipping in all directions. 
Lines of electric cars bring their employees from any part of Boston 
or suburbs almost to the door. The favorable location and the char- 
acter of the building reduced the cost of insurance to the minimum. 

The Athenaeum Press, as the owners style their building, was de- 
signed by Messrs. Lockwood, Greene & Co., mill engineers of wide 
reputation, who have spared no pains to make this as nearly as possible 
a model building for manufacturing purposes. Practically fireproof, 
it is built on two sides of a square, with a frontage of two hundred 
feet on each street and a depth of seventy feet, with a power-house, in 
addition to the main building, in the rear. The structure is of brick 
five stories high, with brown-stone trimmings, the whole surmounted 
by a terra-cotta statue of Athena, made especially for this building by 
Siligardi, of Florence, Italy. Any one approaching the city by way 
of the West Boston Bridge is forcibly impressed with the noble propor- 
tions and substantial character of this building. 

In designing and equipping the plant, not only has the closest atten- 
tion been made to the requirements of manufacturing in the most eco- 
nomical manner, but the health and comfort of the employees have been 
constantly kept in view. Fresh air warmed over steam coils is forced 
through the building by means of an enormous fan, and the impure air 
is drawn out at the roof by smaller ones. The plumbing is of the best 
quality. The different departments are connected by telephone with 
each other, and by a private line with the office in Tremont Place, 
Boston. The fire-proof plate vaults and rooms for storage of books, 
together with complete fire equipment, make it almost impossible to 
suffer any serious loss by fire. The whole plant is lighted with eight 
hundred incandescent and thirty arc lights, fed by a current generated 
on the premises. The engine-room, with its tiled floor and well-pol- 
ished fittings, is a model of its kind. The different depai-tments occupy 
about three acres of floor space, and here may be seen the most im- 
proved machinery known to the printing and binding business. Type- 
setting machines, automatic folders, presses printing maps in two colors 
at once, — all demonstrate the wonderful ingenuity and mechanical skill 
of the present age. The output of this establishment is at present ten 
thousand books per day, and that number can be doubled in case of 
necessity. 

There is a sort of poetic justice in the establishment of Ginn & Co.'s 
Press in Cambridge, for a large number of their publications are edited 
by Cambridge men. Their first book, " Craik's English of Shake- 
speare," edited by W. J. Rolfe, was published about the year 18G7. 
Then followed the well-known series of Latin books by Allen and 
Greenoujdi ; the Greek Grammar, by Prof. W. W. Goodwin ; Greek 



THE CAMBRIDGEPORT DIARY COMPANY. 339 

Lessons, by Prof. J. W. White ; the " Harvard Shakespeare," by Dr. 
Henry N. Hudson ; the mathematical works of Prof. J. M. Peirce and 
Prof. W. E. Byerly, and many others. 

Among the other books most widely known and most extensively 
used, of the eight hundred now published by the house, are the 
Wentworth Series of Mathematics, the National Music Course, by 
Luther Whiting Mason, Whitney's Essentials of English Grammar, 
Lockwood's Lessons in English, Collar and Daniell's Beginner's Latin 
Book, Young's Series of Astronomies, Blaisdell's Physiologies, Gage's 
Physics, the series of Classics for Children, Montgomery's, Myers's, 
and Allen's Histories, and Frye's Geographies. 

It has been the aim of this house to make a careful study of the 
problems of education, and it has spared no pains to secure the best 
editorial talent possible. Its list now includes books by the leading 
educational men all over the country, and in almost every town in the 
United States some of their publications are used. The house has for 
many years been second to none in the educational value of its books, 
and in the short space of a little over a quarter of a century has grown 
to be the largest single schoolbook house in America. It has branch 
offices in New York, Chicago, Columbus, Atlanta, Dallas, and London, 
England. Over fifty traveling agents are employed in the work of 
introducing its books. 

The following members compose the firm : — 

Edwin Ginn, of Boston, the founder of the house ; G. A. Plympton, 
of New York ; Fred B. Ginn, of Oakland, Cal. ; Justin H. Smith, of 
Boston ; T. P. Ballard, of Chicago ; Lewis Parkhurst, of Boston ; S. 
S. White, of Boston ; O. P. Conant, of New York ; Ralph L. Hayes, 
of Philadelphia ; T. W. Gilson, of Chicago ; F. M. Ambrose, of New 
York ; and H. H. Hilton, of Chicago. 

THE CAMBRIDGEPORT DIARY COMPANY. 

The publication of diaries is a long established and important indus- 
try in Cambridge, especially identified with the city by the fact that 
these useful little books are known to the trade the country over as 
" the Cambridgeport Diaries," though properly named the " Standard 
Diaries," and familiar to vast numbers of people in every State in the 
Union by this title. 

In the fall of 1850 Edwin Dresser and Eben Denton, under the 
firm name of Edwin Dresser & Co., began the manufacture of diaries 
and memorandum books in two small rooms on Main Street, near Nor- 
folk Street. The business increased, and soon a removal was neces- 
sary to larger quarters on Main Street, opposite Brookline Street. 

Here for a time James Prince Richardson — well known as the 
captain of the first company of volunteers which left Massachusetts for 



340 FINANCIAL AND MANUFACTURING. 

the defense of the Union in 1861 — was connected with the business. 
In 1857, Henry M. Chamberlain erected a building on Magazine 
Street of which the firm — then Denton & Wood — took entire pos- 
session on a long lease, afterward purchasing the building and adding 
to it from time to time as tbe demands of business warranted. 

The use of diaries increased enormously during the war, the soldiers 
at the front and the families left behind being equally zealous to keep 
a record of those stirring events. Many of the employees enlisted in 
the army and did honorable service, while members of their families 
were furnished remunerative employment in the growing business. 

In February, 1867, Eben Denton sold out his interest in the firm to 
Mr. Dresser, and the firm became Wood & Dresser ; and in 1871, 
Mr. Dresser bought out the interest of Caleb Wood, and the firm name 
again became Edwin Dresser & Co. 

In February, 1873, the business was incorporated under the general 
law of the State as the Cambridgeport Diary Company, other diary 
publishing houses being combined with the original and successful 
establishment. 

The officers of the new corporation were : Edwin Dresser, president 
and general manager ; George W. Parker, treasurer ; J. Augustine 
Wade, superintendent ; and under these officers — except that in 1877 
Albert S. Parsons succeeded Mr. Parker as treasurer — the business 
has been run from that date to the present time, proving one of the 
most stable and reliable industries in the city. 

The company employs a large force of skilled printers, bookbinders, 
and pocket-book makers of both sexes, most of whom have been 
brought up in the business from childhood, many having been with 
the founder of the industry, Edwin Dresser, from the start in 1850. 
Especial care has always been paid to the character of the employees, 
and the result is a body of self-respecting and permanent citizens, a 
credit to the company and to their city. 

J. A. Wade, the superintendent, began as a boy in 1851, and has 
practical knowledge of every detail of the processes of manufacture. 
The Magazine Street building, quite isolated when built, and for 
many years a sort of landmark, is now surrounded by residences of 
elegance and comfort, and the company, feeling the locality unsuited 
for manufacturing purposes, and having outgrown the building, in 
January, 1889, bought twelve thousand square feet of land on the 
corner of Blackstone and Albro streets, in a section occupied by 
kindred industries, such as the Riverside Press, the Little & Brown 
Bindery, etc., erecting in that year a fine four-story brick building, 
containing twenty-five thousand square feet of floor space, and built on 
the most substantial and approved " mill-construction " methods, it 
being fireproof and admirably adapted to the needs of the business 



PRINTING AND BOOK-BINDING. 341 

from basement to roof. Into this new permanent home the company 
moved in February, 1890. 

Here the best paper of the best mills of Western Massachusetts is 
received and transformed into diaries of varied sizes, styles, and quali- 
ties, bound into covers of cloth, or leathers of every grade, domestic 
and imported, the crude material turned out a well-finished product, 
creditable alike to the company, its employees, and the city in which 
the industry has been built up and developed. 

In the pockets of rich and of poor in the cities, or of farmers in the 
fields, in counting-rooms, stores, and shops, in houses of luxury or in 
modest homes all over America, these Cambridge-made diaries are 
to be found, all bearing the title, " Standard Diary," and by their use, 
let us hope, encouraging methodical habits, thrift, and well-ordered 
lives. 



In addition to these three large printing establishments just enu- 
merated, there are several small job offices, where books and pam- 
phlets are printed. Among these may be mentioned the following : — 
The College Press, F. L. Lamkin & Co., 

Cambridge Cooperative Society, G. B. Lenfest, 

J. Frank Facey, Lombard & Caustic, 

Graves & Henry, Powell & Co., 

Harvard Printing Company, C. H. Taylor & Co., 

Lewis J. Hewitt, Louis F. Weston, 

Jennings & Welch, Edward W. Wheeler. 

Some of these houses print the various magazines issued by the 
students of Harvard University ; and all send out very good and 
acceptable work. 

J. H. H. McNAMEE. 

J. H. H. MeNamee, bookbinder, began business in 1880, in the 
third story of the building now occupied by Claflin's drug store. His 
assistant at that time was one boy. In 1883 larger quarters were 
needed, and he removed to the building on the corner of Massachusetts 
Avenue and Linden Street. Business has since continued to increase, 
and he has removed to the large building which he has erected at 
No. 26 Brattle Street. 

Mr. MeNamee does a large business with public libraries, and his 
customers are scattered all over the country. He employs thirty-five 
people, and during the year 1895 forty thousand volumes passed 
through his hands. The class of work turned out varies from the 
leather bindings, used by colleges and public libraries, to the costly 
tool-finished volumes for collectors. 



342 FINANCIAL AND MANUFACTURING. 



MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. 

THE MASON & HAMLIN CO. 

In 1854 Henry Mason and Emmons Hamlin formed a partnership 
for the manufacture of melodeons, and in 1861 the American cabinet 
or parlor organ was introduced in its present form by that firm. The 
merits of the improved instrument were soon recognized, and the organs 
were sold in all parts of America. 

The manufacture was commenced on Cambridge Street, Boston, in 
a small way, but business increased so rapidly that the buildings they 
occupied were found inadequate. In 1874 they removed to Cambridge- 
port and built the extensive factory on the corner of Broadway and 
Brewery Street, which they now occupy. The buildings cover thirty- 
five thousand square feet of land, and contain one hundred and fifty 
thousand square feet of working floor space. The first Mason & 
Hamlin organ was made in 1854 and the first piano in 1881. The 
capacity of the factory is ten thousand organs and fifteen hundred 
pianos annually. Nearly four hundred men are employed, and the 
pay-roll is about two hundred and fifty thousand dollars per year. 

The Mason & Hamlin organs and pianos are sold in nearly all parts 
of the civilized world, but the largest single shipment for export made 
by this company was in December, 1892. Twenty-one teams, carrying 
one hundred and seventy-six organs, were loaded in one day and 
delivered at the Cunard Docks to be forwarded to Liverpool. The 
warerooms of the company are on Boylston Street, Boston. 

SAMUEL S. HAMILL. 

Cambridge is not far behind her sister cities in the art of church- 
organ building. Pipe organs have been built here since 1809. Wil- 
liam M. Goodrich, of Templeton, Mass., began building church organs 
in Boston in 1799. Ten years later he moved his factory to the Third 
Ward, Cambridge, at the corner of Fifth and Otis streets. He con- 
tinued the art till the time of his death, which occurred in 1833. He 
was succeeded by Stevens & Gaieti, at the same stand, and subse- 
quently by George Stevens, once mayor of Cambridge. Mr. Stevens 
pursued the same business till 1891. 

Mr. S. S. Hamill established himself in the art of church-organ 
building in 1859, on Gore Street near Fifth, where he remained till 
1889. Finding his old factory too small for the increasing demand, 
he put up a new one on Bent Street, near Sixth, opposite the Boston 
Bridge Works, where he now is. 

During his thirty-six years' business, he has built and put up over 
eight hundred church organs, by contract, which have been put in 



PIANOS. 343 

churches in nearly every State in the Union from Maine to California, 
besides quite a number for Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, 
also for the West Indies, among which may be mentioned the cele- 
brated organ in the Cathedral of San Felipe at Havana, Cuba ; also 
those in the churches of El Monseratte, and Chapel of the Convent of 
La Merced, of the same city, and some of the noted organs in the 
principal cities of the United States. 

Mr. Hamill acquired the art in New York city in 1845, and is 
thoroughly experienced and skillful in the manufacture of these noble 
instruments. 

IVERS & POND PIANO CO. 

W. H. Ivers began business in Dedham, Mass., in 1876, and the 
present company was formed in September, 1880. The following year 
they moved to Cambridgeport, and occupied the building on Albany 
Street where W. H. C. Badger & Co. are now located. The same 
year they built a portion of their present factory on the corner of 
Main and Albany streets., one hundred feet long, fifty feet wide, 
and five stories high. In 1883 they added to this another section one 
hundred feet by fifty, six stories high, and in 1886 a final addition 
seventy feet by sixty, and at the same time raised the first factory 
another story. 

When the company began business in Cambridge the output was 
from six to ten pianos each week, and about twenty men were em- 
ployed, with an average pay-roll of fifteen thousand dollars per annum. 
The capacity of their factory at this time is from twenty-five hundred 
to three thousand pianos per annum. One hundred and seventy-five 
men are employed, and the annual-pay roll is about one hundred and 
twenty thousand dollars. The Boston warerooms were located on the 
ground floor of the Masonic Temple from 1886 to 1895. Since the 
Temple was burned they have occupied large rooms at 114 Boylston 
Street. 

The Ivers & Pond Co. have been successful from the start, and they 
at this time own the factory and real estate which they occupy. On 
February 1, 1896, they reported an undivided surplus of three hun- 
dred thousand dollars. 

The officers of the company are as follows : William H. Ivers, presi- 
dent ; George A. Gibson, secretary and treasurer ; Handel Pond, general 
manager ; John B. Dayfoot, superintendent. 

THE GEORGE W. SEAVERNS PIANO ACTION CO. 
The business was established in 1851 by George W. Seaverns in a 
building on State Street known as Osborn's mill. Twice it was seri- 
ously interrupted by fire, once in 1855 and again in 1874. In the 
latter year Mr. Seaverns decided to seek larger quarters, and accord- 



o44 FINANCIAL AND MANUFACTURING. 

ingly leased a portion of the Greely mill, their present location. The 
business increased so rapidly that they were obliged to lease the ad- 
joining buildings, where they now have an extensive plant. 

In 1889 the business was incorporated under its present name, with 
a capital of fifty thousand dollars. The company consists of George 
W. Seaverns president, with Frank H. and Walter G. Seaverns as 
directors. 

The Seaverns actions have been placed in more than two hundred 
and fifty thousand pianos, and are used by many of the leading piano 
manufacturers in the United States. 

THE STANDARD ACTION CO. 
David A. Barber, George Bates, and Willis Mabry began the manu- 
facture of pianoforte actions under the above firm name January 1, 
1889. In 1890 Horace T. Skelton was admitted an equal partner ; 
the firm has remained unchanged since that date. The product of the 
house is sold all over the Union where pianos are made. The volume 
of business has increased rapidly, and there are at present one hundred 
employees on the pay list. The present capacity is seventy-five hun- 
dred actions per year. The factory is located on the Allen & Endicott 
Building Co.'s estate bordering on Main and Osborn streets. The 
facilities of the concern will be doubled during this present year. 

DANIEL E. FRASIER. 

In 1866 Daniel E. Frasier and Alpheus K. Smith formed a partner- 
ship and began the manufacture of pianoforte hammer covers. In 
1885 Mr. Smith retired from the firm, and the business has since been 
conducted by Mr. Frasier. 

The material used for hammer covers is imported from Leipzig, 
Germany ; the goods manufactured are sold to the leading houses in 
both the East and the West. 

GEORGE R. OLIVER. 
Mr. Oliver began the manufacture of piano cases in Cambridgeport 
in 1888 ; his business has since increased rapidly, and he now employs 
about fifty men. 

SYLVESTER TOWER. 
The group of factory buildings 145 Broadway, Cambridgeport, is 
owned by Sylvester Tower, and the business conducted is the manu- 
facture of piano keys and organs. A considerable number of men are 
employed. 

C. A. COOK & CO. 
are manufacturers of piano stools and taborets. Their factory is on 
Osborn Street, Cambridgeport. 



BOILERS AND MACHINERY. 345 



MACHINERY AND BOILER MANUFACTURE. 

EDWARD KENDALL & SONS. 

Edward Kendall, the senior member of this firm, with John 
Davis, of Cambridge, originated the business in 1860, under the firm 
name of Kendall & Davis. This partnership continued for several 
years, when Mr. Davis withdrew, and soon after George B. Roberts, of 
Cambridge, became associated with Mr. Kendall, forming a partner- 
ship known as Kendall & Roberts, which continued for more than 
twenty years. The recognized superior quality of their work secured 
for the firm a prominent position among the leading concerns in their 
line in this country. This fact, together with the rapid development 
of manufacturing in New England after the war, caused their busi- 
ness to increase rapidly, and their shops were almost always running 
at full capacity, a fact which, on account of the comparatively crude 
methods employed in the manufacturing of boilers in those days, could 
not be kept quiet. It was remarked some years ago by a prominent 
clergyman of Cambridge, that the rattling of the windows in some 
newly purchased street-cars was almost as noisy as Kendall & Rob- 
erts's boiler works. They furnished steam plants for many of the 
largest manufacturing establishments in New England, and also sent 
their boilers to all parts of the country. 

In 1887 Mr. Roberts retired from the firm, selling his interest in 
the business to Mr. Kendall, and since that date the business has been 
carried on by the present firm, the members of which are Mr. Edward 
Kendall and his sons, George F. and James H. They have reorgan- 
ized their entire plant, erecting new and larger buildings, and replac- 
ing their old machines with new ones of the latest and most approved 
types. Their shops have a floor area of about forty-five thousand 
square feet, and their present capacity is more than twice what it was 
when they succeeded to the business. 

The volume of their business has steadily increased, and, when run- 
ning at full capacity, they employ about two hundred men, and their 
consumption of iron and steel last year amounted to about six thousand 
tons. Although there have been many extensive concerns in this kind 
of manufacturing organized in all parts of the country, Edward Ken- 
dall & Sons still occupy a position among the largest and most reliable. 

They have given especial attention to boilers constructed for high 
pressures, such as are used for the largest mills, in connection with 
their compound and triple expansion engines. For this purpose they 
build horizontal tubular boilers, and also upright boilers, such as the 
" Manning " and other designs. 

Notwithstanding the local competition in other parts of the country, 



346 FINANCIAL AND MANUFACTURING. 

they still secure orders from industries of various kinds in all quar- 
ters, from the copper and iron mines of Lake Superior to the cotton, 
lumber, and sugar mills of the South and West. They have also sent 
their boilers across the Pacific to China, and across the Atlantic as 
far east as Constantinople, and also to South America. 

BAKBOUR, STOCKWELL CO. 

The Barbour, Stockwell Co. is the result of the consolidation of the 
business of three separate firms. 

The firm of Allen & Endicott was established about forty years 
ago by Caleb C Allen and Henry Endicott. They were at first 
located in Boston on North Grove Street, where they built engines 
and boilers, and carried on a general machine-shop business. 

In 1858 they purchased property on Main Street, at the corner of 
Osborn Street, in this city, which had been for some time owned and 
occupied by Davenport & Bridges, car builders. Their works were 
moved out from Boston, and they remained at this place until 1873, 
when they disposed of the business but retained their ownership in 
the real estate. The new firm was known as Morrill & Hooker, and 
consisted of Alfred Morrill and Henry Hooker, both of Cambridge. 

In 1878 Mr. Allen purchased the interest of Mr. Hooker for his 
son, Albert F. Allen, and the firm became Morrill & Allen. On the 
death of Albert F. Allen, Mr. Morrill continued the business under 
the name of Alfred Morrill & Co., until 1890, when he retired from 
active business, and transferred the good-will, stock, tools, and fixtures 
to Barbour & Stockwell. 

The Cambridge Railroad was built while the business was in the 
hands of Allen & Endicott, and they were called upon to furnish a 
large part of the track material used. The building of other roads 
rapidly followed, and the activity in this field added a permanent and 
important branch to their already large and successful business. 

The old firm of Denio & Roberts was started in Boston about 1850, 
and for many years carried on business in different places at the West 
End. They were the first to build a machine for cutting crackers 
and biscuits, and for a long time their machines were the only ones 
on the market or in general use. A few of the machines built by 
them are still in use in small bakeries, but the greater part of them 
have long since been supplanted by those of modern construction. As 
the manufacturers of bakery products began to educate the public 
taste by supplying a better quality and a far greater variety of goods, 
their business increased very rapidly, and the old machines were not 
accurate enough, nor of sufficient capacity to meet the increased de- 
mand. This led to many improvements, and developed, by the usual 



BAKING MACHINES. 347 

processes of evolution, machines that are little short of marvelous in 
these respects. Those not familiar with the methods practiced in a 
well-equipped modern bakery have but little idea of the extent to 
which machinery is used, or of the great changes that have been 
wrought by it in the baker's art since the days of our grandfathers. 
Then the skill of an operative lay in his ability to turn out a small 
quantity and a very limited variety of goods with his own hands, and 
such simple hand implements as are familiar to all good housewives. 
To-day there is little, and in most bakeries no hand work done, and 
the skill of a mechanic lies in his knowledge of the machines, and how 
to get from them the largest amount and the highest quality of goods 
they are capable of producing. 

The business of Denio & Roberts changed hands several times, and 
competitors arose in the West and elsewhere, but each of the succes- 
sive owners of the concern in Boston added something to the efficiency 
of the machinery built by it, — indeed, they were forced to do so, 
because in order to live they had to be progressive. 

In 1886 it passed from the hands of W. O. Taylor Co. into those 
of Barbour & Stockwell, — Walworth O. Barbour, of Cambridge, 
and Frederic F. Stockwell, of Somerville, who continued the busi- 
ness at No. 11 Chardon Street, Boston. 

The firm of Walworth O. Barbour & Co. was founded in 1882, and 
consisted of Mr. Barbour, Alfred Morrill, and Albert F. Allen, all 
of Cambridge. Previous to that time the Walworth Manufacturing 
Co. had occupied the greater part of the building owned by Allen & 
Endicott, but they had moved to the new works purchased by them 
at South Boston. Mr. Barbour had been in their employ for about 
eight years as clerk and paymaster. This office he resigned to take 
charge of the affairs of the new firm. The foundry just vacated by 
the Walworth Manufacturing Co. was leased of Messrs. Allen & 
Endicott, and a general jobbing business in gray iron castings was 
started. 

On the death of Mr. Allen his interest passed into the hands of 
Mr. Morrill, and on Mr. Morrill's retirement he disposed of all his 
share in the foundry to Mr. John P. Winlock, who had for seven or 
eight years been foreman of the foundry. 

In 1 890 the foundry, the Allen & Endicott business in Cambridge, 
and the old Denio & Roberts business in Boston, were merged into 
one concern under the name of Barbour, Stockwell & Co. Contem- 
plated improvements in the building of Messrs. Allen & Endicott, as 
well as the necessities for larger facilities for turning out work, forced 
the concern to seek new quarters. 

A lot of land containing a little over two acres, and bounded by 



348 FINANCIAL AND MANUFACTURING. 

Broadway, Market, Clark, Hampshire, and Davis streets was pur- 
chased, and buildings erected, as follows : — 

A foundry 175 by 75 feet, a machine shop 52 feet wide and 300 
feet long on the first floor, 150 feet on the second and third floors, and 
a wareroom and pattern storage building, 160 by 60 feet, three stories 
high. The new quarters were ready for occupancy by the spring of 
1891. The machinery from the Boston shop, as well as that from the 
foundry and shop in Cambridge, was moved in and set up. 

In 1893 the firm was incorporated under the laws of Massachu- 
setts, under the name of Bai'bour, Stockwell Co. 

Various causes have combined to bring about a rapid increase in 
the volume of business since the consolidation was effected. The 
increase in the last five years has been more than one hundred per 
cent., a large part of which is due to the impetus given to street rail- 
way building by the introduction of electricity as a motive power. 
With the new system heavier cars were brought into use, and the old 
track, which had been good enough for horse-car service, was found 
to be altogether too light for the heavier cars and increased speed of 
the new method. 

It soon became necessary to replace all the tracks with heavier rail, 
and new and improved types of special work replaced the old as 
rapidly as they could be procured and laid. Nor was the demand for 
new material confined to the old roads. New enterprises in street 
railway building were inaugurated in every section of the country, 
and this soon became a favorite form of investment. 

While this company furnishes but a small part of the great aggre- 
gate of the material used in this industry, and has to meet the compe- 
tition of much larger concerns in the West, still it has a large and 
growing trade in this class of work. 

In the foundry it has a capacity of thirty to forty tons of gray iron 
casting a day, and furnishes a large amount of cast iron work to the 
machinery and building trades of Boston and vicinity. In the machine 
department it designs and builds a great variety of special machinery, 
and does a general jobbing and repair business. The number of men 
employed varies with the season, from two to three hundred, and the 
pay-roll from two to three thousand dollars a week. 

RAWSON & MORRISON MANUFACTURING CO. 
The Rawson & Morrison Manufacturing Co. are designers, pa- 
tentees, and manufacturers of hoisting-engines, coal-handling ma- 
chinery, boilers, stationai-y engines, electric hoists, fertilizer dryers, 
hydraulic pumps and presses, special and general machinery. 

It is a well-known fact that Boston was the birthplace of the port- 
able hoisting-engine. As early as 1835 the necessity for handling 
t 



HOISTING-ENGINES AND BRIDGES. 349 

weights by other than manual labor forced itself upon contractors, 
pile-drivers, and bridge-builders. These industries early began to 
assume vast proportions, and it was to supply their demands that the 
first hoisting-engine was manufactured in this vicinity. Hittinger, 
Cook & Co., of Charlestown, were the first to design and manufacture 
this class of engines, and did a large business during the existence of 
the firm. From their shops was graduated George W. Rawson, a nat- 
ural mechanic and inventor. He formed a partnership with Michael 
Hittinger (Hittinger, Cook & Co.), under the firm name of Rawson 
& Hittinger, and began business at No. 72 Main Street, Cambridge- 
port. They carried on a large business during and after the war, 
manufacturing annually about two hundred engines, ranging in price 
from six hundred to three thousand dollars each. 

In the year 1884 Mr. Rawson and John G. Morrison established 
the firm of Rawson & Morrison, and located at No. 29 Main Street 
(West Boston Bridge). Owing to the many years spent by Mr. Raw- 
son in manufacturing and improving the line they represented, they 
were enabled to bring their productions to a higher degree of per- 
fection. Being protected by numerous letters-patent, they were in a 
position to offer to their customers original and improved engines and 
machinery, constructed to meet the varied requirements. 

In the year 1883 they began a series of experiments with a view to 
securing a form of steam-shovel and apparatus adapted to the general 
discharging of vessels engaged in coal transportation. These experi- 
ments resulted favorably, and their method has been adopted by many 
of the leading coal merchants and railroads from Maine to California. 

Mr. Rawson died October 17, 1893, and the business has since been 
continued by Mr. Morrison, without change of firm name. It has 
recently reached such proportions as to demand increased facilities, 
and a modern steel frame building, two stories, one hundred and fifty 
feet by sixty, has been erected. This addition is especially adapted for 
handling heavy work, and is fitted with electric cranes and the most 
modern machinery and tools. They at present employ one hundred 
and fifty mechanics. 

The company w r as incorporated, May, 1896, with a paid-in capital 
of seventy-five thousand dollars. 

BOSTON BRIDGE WORKS. 

The Boston Bridge Works, located on Sixth, Ninth, Rogers, and 
Binney streets, was established by D. H. Andrew's, the present propri- 
etor, in June, 1876. 

The business was begun on Main Street, in a building belonging to 
the then existing firm of Kendall & Roberts, at the spot where the 
office of Edward Kendall & Sons now stands. 



350 FINANCIAL AND MANUFACTURING. 

Bridge-manufacturing in Boston or vicinity previous to that time 
had not been successful, and the modest beginning of the Boston 
Bridge Works gave ample opportunity to study and, so far as pos- 
sible, avoid the causes of previous failure. The growth of the business 
was not at first rapid, but it was steady until, in the early spring of 
1881, it had outgrown the accommodations afforded by the buildings 
and grounds first occupied. After a most exhaustive examination of 
the facilities afforded by other regions sufficiently near Boston, it was 
decided that no other spot combined so many advantages as are united 
at the present location. 

The Boston Bridge Works produce steel or iron railroad and high- 
way bridges, with fixed or movable spans for drawbridges of every 
description or requirement, — steel-roof trusses and coverings, steel 
building-frames and complete steel buildings, locomotive turn-tables, 
and all kinds of structural frames required. 

The works cover about one hundred and forty thousand square feet 
of ground, and are completely equipped with modern machinery for a 
bridge-building plant. Last year they turned out and shipped about 
eight thousand tons of finished material. 

Among the notable bridges built by the Boston Bridge Works in 
this vicinity may be mentioned the Harvard Bridge, from Cambridge 
to Boston, and the Dover Street Bridge and Boylston Street Bridge, in 
Boston. These works also produced the majority of the largest rail- 
road bridges in New England, and have furnished the steel framework 
of several large and notable buildings, among which may be named 
the new Worthington building on State Street, and the new Tremont 
building in Boston. The number of men usually employed by the 
Boston Bridge Works is not far from three hundred, but at times has 
reached over four hundred. 

The foregoing will give a fair idea of the general output and char- 
acter of this distinctively Cambridge enterprise, and it shows that it is 
quite possible to produce steel structural work on a fairly extensive 
scale in New England, despite the large advantage generally conceded 
to Pennsylvania in this class of business. 

BROADWAY IRON FOUNDRY CO. 
The Broadway Iron Foundry Co. was established in 1864 by 
Henry M. Bird, under the firm name of Henry M. Bird & Co., and 
moved to its present location, Broadway and Pelham streets, Cam- 
bridgeport, in I860. Mr. Bird died in 1890, and the business was 
continued by his estate to January 1, 1896, when it was incorporated 
under its present name. The capital of the company is twenty thou- 
sand dollars, and they do a general foundry business, leasing the land 
and buildings from the Bird estate. About forty men are employed. 



WIRE, METAL, MACHINERY. 351 

William W. Bird is president and treasurer, and Robert C Bird 
secretary. 

MORSS & WHYTE. 
The firm of Morss & Whyte occupies a large brick building cover- 
ing thirty-five thousand square feet of land on Franklin Street, Cam- 
bridgeport. The business was established in 1840. Charles A. Morss 
was admitted to the firm in 1845, and since 1868 has been the sole 
partner. The concern was removed to Cambridge in 1885. They 
manufacture wire cloths, netting, screens, railings, and light structural 
iron work, and employ fifty hands. 

THE SIMPLEX ELECTRICAL CO. 
was incorporated under the laws of Massachusetts in 1895, with a 
capital of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. It is at present 
located with Morss & Whyte, and employs seventy-five men. The 
company manufactures insulated wires and cables for electrical pur- 
poses, including line work, interior wiring, submarine and underground 
cables, and is doing a very large business. 

THE EASTERN EXPANDED METAL CO., 
incorporated in 1894, with a capital stock of fifteen thousand dollars, 
is located at 10 Franklin Street, Cambridgeport. The company is li- 
censee in New England for the patents on expanded metal, and is 
manufacturer of expanded metal lath, and contractor for fire-proofing 
on the expanded metal system, including lathing, partitions, protec- 
tions of iron beams, elevator shafts, floors, and outside walls. Thirty 
men are employed. 

THE AMERICAN ELECTRIC HEATING CORPORATION 
is also located at 10 Franklin Street, with main office in the Sears 
Building, Boston, and branch offices in New York and Chicago. The 
corporation has a very heavy capital, and is controlled by a syndicate 
of Boston's prominent business men. The company owns two hundred 
and fifty patents on electric heating, and is developing its application, 
working on the basis that the field is as great for electric heating as 
for electric lighting. Employment is at present given to twenty men. 

HALL BROTHERS. 
The firm of Hall Brothers, machinists, No. 724 Massachusetts Ave- 
nue, was established in business in 1890, with a capital of two thou- 
sand dollars, for the purpose of manufacturing Hall's Matrix Drying 
Machine, and special machinery for newspaper stereotype offices. Dur- 
ing the past five years they have placed machines in many of the large 
newspaper offices, including those of the " New York Sun," " New 



352 FINANCIAL AND MANUFACTURING. 

York Evening Post," "Boston Herald," "Buffalo Evening News," 
" Chicago Herald," " Philadelphia Record," " Providence Journal." 
They also manufacture lubricant for motors and dynamos. 

RIVERSIDE BOILER WORKS. 

The Riverside Boiler Works, Cambridgeport, occupy three build- 
ings at 50 Harvard Street. The business was established in 1891, and 
the company is engaged in the manufacture of galvanized iron range 
boilers. The works have a capacity of fifty boilers per day, and twenty 
men are employed. 

STANDARD BRASS CO. 

The Standard Brass Co. was organized and incorporated May, 
1894, with a capital of fifteen thousand dollars. The factory is located 
at Nos. 12-14 Osborn Street, Cambridgeport, and one hundred hands 
are employed in the manufacture of brass work, for water, steam, and 
gas, also for electrical lamp work. The value of the product is ahout 
one hundred thousand dollars per annum. Thirty thousand pounds 
of brass are melted in the foundry each month. F. J. Paine is presi- 
dent, and H. F. Hawkes treasurer of the company. 

BAY STATE METAL WORKS. 

The Bay State Metal Works was incorporated in May, 1893. The 
company manufacture copper and brass goods for plumbers' use. The 
capital of the concern is about thirty-five thousand dollars, and em- 
ployment is given to seventy-five men. The value of the product is 
two hundred thousand dollars per annum. The officers are : Andrew 
W. Fisher, president ; Joseph J. Devereux, treasurer ; F. H. Holton, 
general manager. The works are located on Harvard Street, Cam- 
bridgeport. 

LAMB & RITCHIE. 

Making galvanized iron pipe was a slow process twenty-five years 
ago, and the product was unsatisfactory. When the seam was made 
the zinc coating cracked or broke off and exposed the iron or steel to 
rust ; and for the same reason the short pieces could not be success- 
fully soldered together to make pipe of suitable length. The pipe at 
best was unsightly, and it was a good workman who could make more 
than two hundred and fifty feet a day. 

The first successful steps in the industry were not attempts to make 
pipe cheaper, but to make it better. The two objects were, however, 
closely allied, and it was not until power machinery was first success- 
fully applied to making the different kinds of improved pipe by Lamb 
& Ritchie, of Cambridgeport, that the manufacture began its remark- 
able growth. 

Like many other modern inventions, there is but little for the opera- 



"A TRIFLING ACCIDENT:' 353 

tor to do ; "he presses the hutton and the machine does the rest." A 
plain flat sheet of metal is fed into the rolls, and comes out in a few 
seconds a complete pipe ten feet long, sometimes round, sometimes 
square or oval, smooth or fluted, sometimes corrugated, so that it will 
expand when water freezes in it ; and, most wonderful of all, some of 
the machines produce a pipe ornamented and strengthened by a spiral 
seam. All the galvanizing or zinc coating is done after the pipe is 
made, which is the only way to make galvanized iron pipe reliable. 

As to rapidity of production, a machine will run out more pipe in a 
day than some workmen could make by hand in a whole winter. A 
brief account of a trifling accident may illustrate the productive capa- 
city of modern sheet metal machinery. A machine not properly 
stopped at noon broke loose when the engine started up, running out 
pipe across the room in which it stood and back again as it was turned 
by the opposite wall. Before it was discovered it had nearly filled the 
room with pipe. That was twelve years ago. If the pipe had gone 
due west out of an open window and the machine had continued to 
run, the line of pipe would have reached by this time twice around the 
world. Some of the firm's machines would in the same time have run 
pipe three and even four times around it. 

It may be asked how a market can be found for such an increased 
production. The answer is, first, that it takes millions of feet each 
year to supply the thousands of tinsmiths who formerly made pipe 
themselves, but who have found that it is now cheaper to buy it ready 
made ; and, second, that the improved quality and reduced price of 
the machine-made product led, as in other industries, to an extraor- 
dinary increase in its use. 

This Cambridgeport firm was the pioneer in the industry. It still 
holds the lead in it, in spite of sharp competition and heavy tariff 
taxation both in 1890 and 1894. Cambridgeport is an admirable 
location for an industry which uses imported materials. The ocean 
steamers and the railroads running from the wharves bring these 
materials from the producer in Great Britain to the factory in Cam- 
bridgeport for a very few cents a hundred pounds. It is in connection 
with cheap materials that invention and enterprise count for the most 
and secure the greatest advantage. Unless prevented from buying 
where their materials are cheapest, sheet metal industries will continue 
to find an exceptionally good home in Cambridge. The partners in 
the firm are Henry W. Lamb and David A. Ritchie, and the factory 
is located on the corner of Albany and Portland streets. 

THE GEO. F. BLAKE MANUFACTURING CO. 

This vast enterprise owes its success to the inventive genius, business 
energy, and sterling integrity of its founder, George Fordyce Blake, 
a descendant of the stanch old New England family of this name. 



354 FINANCIAL AND MANUFACTURING. 

In 1862 Mr. Blake, while employed as mechanical engineer of 
Peter Hubbell's brick-yards at Cambridge, was granted a patent for a 
water meter. About that time Mr. Blake also patented a machine for 
pulverizing the clay, which could not be worked with the ordinary 
machinery ; and, later, when the clay pits constantly filled with water, 
he devised and patented a steam pump, which operated perfectly, and 
succeeded in keeping the pits free from water. 

In 1864 Mr. Blake, associated with Mr. Hubbell and Mr. Job A. 
Turner, commenced the manufacture and sale of these pumps and 
meters in a little shop on Province Street, Boston. From that time 
to the present the growth and success of this industry have been unin- 
terrupted. In 1874 a joint stock company was formed, under the 
name of the " Geo. F. Blake Manufacturing Co. ; " in 1879 the plant 
and business of the Knowles Steam Pump Works, at Warren, Mass., 
were purchased ; and, in 1890, the entire business was transferred to a 
syndicate, which, under greatly increased capitalization, now continues 
this business in the name of " The Geo. F. Blake Manufacturing Co." 

In 1889-90, after several changes of location, incident to the ever- 
growing business, the works were permanently located in Cambridge. 
The plant, which covers five and a half acres, is undoubtedly one of the 
finest in its line in the world. The buildings were specially designed 
for the business, and are in the very best style of modern shop con- 
struction. As much attention has been given to the health and com- 
fort of its employees as to the economy of production and the ease of 
future extension. 

The buildings are fully equipped with traveling cranes and special 
tools, so as to insure the manufacture of strictly first-class machinery 
at the lowest possible cost. The variety of pumping machinery manu- 
factured is greater than that of any other single company, a force of 
ninety-six draughtsmen and pattern-makers alone being constantly 
employed in the scientific designing and preparation of new lines of 
machinery for every branch of manufacturing and engineering work. 
The total number of employees at the present time is about one 
thousand. 

The pumping machinery is shipped in quantity to every quarter of 
the globe, and ranges in size from pumps of a few hundred pounds 
weight to the highest grade of water-works pumping engines weighing 
over one million pounds each. Among the prominent American cities 
using the Blake water-works engines may be mentioned : Boston, 
New York, Washington, Camden, New Orleans, Cleveland, Mobile, 
Toronto, Shreveport, Helena, Birmingham, Racine, La Crosse, Mc- 
Keesport, etc. A partial list of places in Massachusetts includes : 
Cambridge, Newton, Brookline, Woburn. Natick, Hyde Park, Dedham, 
Needham, Wakefield. Maiden, Arlington, Belmont, Walpole, Lexington, 



PUMPS, BOILERS, AND PULLEYS. 355 

Gloucester, Marlboro, Weymouth, North Adams, Maynard, Mansfield, 
Randolph, Foxhoro, Cohasset, Lenox, Chelsea, Brockton, Franklin, 
Provincetown, Canton, Stoughton, Braintree, and Wellesley. These 
engines are also in use in foreign water-works, as for instance at St. 
Petersburg, Honolulu, and Sydney. 

The new United States Navy is practically fitted out with Blake 
pumps, a partial list including the following vessels : Columbia, New 
York, Iowa, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Newark, Chicago, Boston, Atlanta, 
Massachusetts, Indiana, Maine, Puritan, Miantonomoh, Monadnock, 
Terror, Amphitrite, Katahdin, Detroit, Montgomery, Marblehead, 
Yorktown, Dolphin, Machias, Castine, Petrel, Vesuvius, and many 
others. 

Briefly, the thousands of patterns cover pumps for handling any 
fluid or semi-fluid or liquor, whether acid or alkali, under all condi- 
tions, from the lightest pressure up to twenty-five thousand pounds per 
square inch ; and similarly any gas or vapor under vacuum or various 
degrees of compression, — all these machines being driven directly by 
steam, air, or water pressure, or indirectly by steam or gas engines, 
electric motors, water wheels, or other sources of motive power. 

WILLIAM CAMPBELL & CO. 

are manufacturers of marine, locomotive, and steam fire-engine boilers, 
gas holders, oil and water tanks, and all kinds of plate iron works. 
Their works are located on Sixth Street near Broadway. 

THE ROBERTS IRON WORKS CO., 
manufacturers of boilers, has a large establishment on Main Street 
near the West Boston Bridge, and employs a considerable number of 
men. Mr. Roberts was for many years a member of the firm of 
Kendall & Roberts. 

MILLER & SHAW, 
manufacturers of portable steam hoisting-engines, hydraulic presses, 
and general machinery, are located on Sixth Street, Cambridgeport. 

WALTER W. FIELD, 
machinist, formerly of the firm of Parker, Field & Mitchell, is a 
manufacturer of electric hoists and the Boston Hoisting-Engine, and 
is located on Main Street, West Boston Bridge. 

JAMES H. ROBERTS & CO. 

are manufacturers of machinery, shafting, pulleys, and hangers, and 
occupy a large building on the corner of Second and Charles streets, 
East Cambridge. Their business office is 5 Lancaster Street, Boston. 



356 FINANCIAL AND MANUFACTURING. 

E. D. LEAVITT. 

The largest private mechanical engineering office in the United 
States is that of E. D. Leavitt, which occupies two floors in the Holmes 
Block, 2 Central Square. A large force of engineers and draughtsmen 
is constantly employed. 

Machinery and boilers (with their accessories) exceeding in value 
more than ten million dollars have been designed by Mr. Leavitt since 
establishing his office in Cambridge. 

The designs mentioned include the great machinery plant of the 
Calumet & Hecla Mine, pumping-engines at Boston, Lynn, Lawrence, 
Louisville, Ky., and that now building for Cambridge, as well as the 
most powerful pumping-engine in existence, which is used by the Beth- 
lehem Iron Company in forging armor plates and heavy guns, which 
develops 15,000 horse-power. Cambridge manufacturers have built 
some of the most important work. The pay-roll exceeds forty thou- 
sand dollars per annum. 

MANUFACTURING CONFECTIONERS. 

The manufacture of candy in Cambridge was begun by Robert 
Douglass in 1826, in a small building on Windsor Street. He removed 
soon after to the building now standing on the corner of Main and 
Douglass streets. Beginning with sales from a wheelbarrow, grinding 
and refining all the sugar he used, his business increased to such an 
extent that he acquired a fortune. At one time he had teams running 
over a large portion of New England. 

From this concern sprang the oldest candy manufacturing firm now 
doing business in Cambridge at this time, 

B. P. CLARK & CO. 
Mr. Clark was a salesman for Douglass from 1840 to 1848 ; in the 
latter year he started in business for himself on Franklin Street, Cam- 
bridgeport. In 1862 he moved to Main Street, and occupied a building 
which stood on the site of the present Prospect House Block. In 1874 
he built the factory, 443 Massachusetts Avenue, which has been occu- 
pied by the firm since. The building is seventy-five by fifty feet, five 
stories high. The capital used in the business is from seventy-five to 
one hundred thousand dollars, and about fifty hands are employed. 
The partners are B. P. Clark, Edward C. Wheeler, and W. F. Alley. 
After forty-eight years of service, Mr. Clark, at the age of eighty, still 
takes an active interest in the business. 




I). M. Ha/.kx t V- Sons. 




• a- 1 • \>| 





Geokge Close, Confectionek. 



THE CONFECTIONERY TRADE. 357 

GEORGE CLOSE, 
manufacturer of confectionery, began business in Cambridgeport in 
1870, and in 1879 erected the brick building on the corner of Broad- 
way and Windsor Street, where he employs one hundred and twenty- 
five hands. The product of the factory is about three tons per day, 
which is distributed mostly in New England. The plant has all the 
latest improvements in machinery used in the business, and represents 
a capital invested of about seventy-five thousand dollars. The build- 
ing is sixty-five by seventy-five feet, with a wooden addition thirty- 
five by forty feet. On the first floor are the offices, receiving and 
shipping rooms, and the three floors above are used for manufacturing. 
The engine-room is located in the wing. 

D. M. HAZEN & CO., 

manufacturers of confectionery, began business in 1876. In 1882 they 
purchased fifty-six hundred feet of land, and a two-story building, lo- 
cated at 42 Elm Street, to which they added an ell. In 1885 the busi- 
ness had increased, and the building was further enlarged. In 1890 
more land was purchased, and the building increased to eighty by forty- 
four feet, three stories high. The plant was furnished with the latest 
improved machinery; the concern now employs from seventy-five to 
one hundred hands, and makes a specialty of chocolates, bonbons, and 
caramels. 

H. F. SPARROW, 

manufacturer of fine chocolates, bonbons, and caramels, began business 
in 1887, in a two-story building on Windsor Street ; the growth of the 
business compelled larger quarters, and in 1891 the present factory, on 
the corner of Hampshire and Clark streets, was erected. The building 
measures one hundred and ten by forty-five feet, and has four stories 
and basement. By close attention to business a large trade over the 
United States has been secured ; in the busy season one hundred and 
seventy-five hands are employed. 

THE BAY STATE CONFECTIONERY CO. 
are the successors of J. S. Bell & Co., who first engaged in manufac- 
turing confectionery in a small building on Pearl Street, in May, 1890, 
moving into their present quarters, 141 Hampshire Street, in Septem- 
ber, 1891. The present company purchased their plant in June, 1894, 
and employ about sixty hands. The building is seventy by forty feet, 
of four stories, all of which are fully occupied. Their product is chiefly 
chocolate confections, and is valued at one hundred thousand dollars 
per annum. 

The total capital represented in the manufacturing confectionery 



358 FINANCIAL AND MANUFACTURING. 

trade in Cambridge is about two hundred and thirty thousand dollars ; 
average number of employees, four hundred and sixty -five. Sixty mil- 
lion pounds of sugar and eight hundred thousand pounds of chocolate 
are used annually. The Cambridge manufacturers are members of 
the National Confectioners' Association, an association not organized 
to fix prices, but whose motto is " purity and integrity." 

R. H. Leach, Elm Street, manufacturer of lozenges, employs a con- 
siderable number of people. 

Jensen Brothers, Norfolk Street, manufacture a general line of 
confectionery. 

SOAP MANUFACTURERS. 

Cambridge is at this time, and has been for many years, more 
extensively engaged in the manufacture of soap than any other place 
in New England. In the early days a large amount of this commodity 
was exported, chiefly to the West Indies and South America ; but at the 
present time the manufacture is mainly confined to the home market. 
The business of soap-making in Cambridge was begun by Livermore, 
Crane & Whitney in 1804. Their business was started in a small 
way in a building in the rear of Main Street, and was continued by 
Mr. Livermore on the same spot until he died, in 1862. There are 
at the present time several large factories, producing in the aggregate 
many million pounds per annum. 

CURTIS DAVIS & CO. 

The establishment of the firm of Curtis Davis & Co. dates back to 
the year 1835, Mr. Curtis Davis being its founder. In the year 1838 
Mr. Davis entered into partnership with Mr. Alexander Dickinson, 
under the firm name of Davis & Dickinson, with a capital of one 
thousand dollars. This partnership continued until 1851, and was 
dissolved in that year, Mr. Davis purchasing the site which is now 
occupied by the present firm. 

In 1864 Mr. Davis received his son-in-law James Mellen into part- 
nership, under the firm name of Curtis Davis & Co. At this time 
the works had a capacity of about three tons of soap per day, and 
employed ten hands, with a weekly pay-roll of about one hundred 
dollars. Improved methods of manufacture were adopted and im- 
proved machinery was installed whenever brought to the attention of 
the proprietors. The quality of their products was improved as the 
state of the art advanced, and as the market furnished purer raw mate- 
rials from which to make them. The popular and well-known brand 
of " Welcome " soap was established about 1875, but had been regis- 
tered and copyrighted in 1874. In 1883 the firm adopted the policy 
of manufacturing this and a few other special brands of laundry soaps, 
less than half a dozen in number, to the exclusion of all others. Just 




1" £t f 




< i btis Davis & Company. 



SOAP MANUFACTURERS. 359 

previous to this time they were putting up for the market more than 
one hundred and twenty-five different brands. They believe them- 
selves to have been the first firm in the soap business in this country 
to adopt such a policy, which has proved to be a sound one, as it is 
largely followed by all the leading manufacturers of to-day. 

The partnership was terminated in 1887 by the death of Mr. Davis. 
The business was continued under the old firm name, Mr. Mellen 
taking into partnership his son, Edwin D. Mellen, who had previously 
been engaged at the works as chemist and superintendent. The works 
have been extended in late years by the addition of a glycerine plant, 
for the recovery of what had previously been a waste product, and the 
addition of a machinery department, for the manufacture of machinery 
designed at the works and patented by the firm. This partnership 
was recently terminated by the death of Mr. James Mellen, and the 
business is continued at the present time under the management of 
the surviving partner, Mr. E. D. Mellen. 

The works now comprise the soap works in the old original build- 
ing, greatly enlarged ; the glycerine works, the boiler-house, with 
boilers equipped with coal and ash-handling machinery, and other 
modern improvements ; the laboratory building containing the labora- 
tories ; machine-shop, and stable. All these buildings have a floor 
area of about two acres. The present capacity of the soap works is 
twenty tons per day, and that of the glycerine works three thousand 
pounds per day. The operation of the works employs a capital of 
three hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and eighty employees, with 
a weekly pay-roll of one thousand dollars. The annual product is 
valued at six hundred thousand dollars. 

The firm contemplates increasing the capacity of its establishment 
in the near future, thereby giving opportunities for the employment of 
additional capital and labor. 

JAMES C. DAVIS & SON. 

In the year 1835 the late James C. Davis made his first venture in 
the soap business in this city, gathering the material from house to 
house, which was a custom followed by every soap-maker at that time. 

In 1840, by dint of zeal and earnest effort, he opened a factory of 
some pretensions, and in 1850 he was the sole proj>rietor of the estab- 
lishment at 204, 206, and 208 Broadway, where for forty-six years, 
or up to date, the name of James C. Davis, or James C. Davis & Son, 
the latter appendage being added in 1870 by the admittance of Mr. 
James H. Davis as a member of the concern, has appeared on the now 
familiar sign. 

On March 14, 1888, the founder of the business, Mr. James C. 
Davis, died, since which time it has been carried on by his successors. 
They employ sixty-five hands. 



360 FINANCIAL AND MANUFACTURING. 

Never has this house known disaster, save the burning of the factory 
in 1891 and the death of the founder. The spirit of progress has 
ever marked its endeavor, not only locally, but at large in New Eng- 
land. Every city and town in New England is familiar with the 
famous " James C. Davis Old Soap," also the E. A. & W. Winchester 
Standard Soap, which are manufactured by this house by the same 
formula as that used by the old concern of E. A. & W. Winchester, 
when they established the business in 1814. 

In 1894 they added to their present capacity a glycerine plant, 
which converts all the glycerine from the spent lyes or waste products. 
The Boston office is at 3 Commercial Street. 

LYSANDER KEMP & SONS, 
Broadway and Davis Street, Camhridgeport, manufacturers of soap 
and soap-stock, was established by Lysander Kemp, at Lincoln Court, 
in the town of Cambridge, in 1845, and in 1853 was removed to its 
present location. In 1857 Mr. Kemp formed a partnership with 
Aaron Hale, under the firm name of Hale & Kemp, for the purpose 
of manufacturing family soap and soap-stock. In 1867 the firm was 
dissolved, Mr. Kemp retaining the soap-stock trade. In 1872 his sons, 
Horace G. and James H. Kemp, were admitted as partners. Lysander 
Kemp retired from the business January 1, 1892, and his sons con- 
tinued it under its present firm name. In January, 1893, their build- 
ing was destroyed by fire, but was immediately replaced by the present 
factory, which is 100 by 63 feet, and three stories high, with power- 
house adjoining. The firm employs fourteen men. Their product in 
1895 was 1,259 tons of soap-stock, 458 tons of soap, and 705 tons of 
fertilizer stock. 

JOHN REARDON & SONS. 

The soap and candle business of John Reardon & Sons was founded 
by John Reardon in 1856, the factory being located on Erie Street, 
Camhridgeport. Candle manufacturing at that time Avas a very im- 
portant industry in New England, and it continued to be such until 
the discovery of mineral oil. In 1863 Edmund and James H. Rear- 
don were admitted as partners, and the firm has since continued under 
the name of John Reardon & Sons. The firm is a large exporter of 
tallow to England and the Continent, and has an extensive trade in 
the Southern States east of the Mississippi, in addition to its trade in 
New York, Pennsylvania, and New England. 

It was at one time extensively engaged in the manufacture of 
oleomargarine oil and butter. The present works, covering an acre 
of ground near Fort Washington, were erected in 1878. The business of 
making oleomargarine was carried on until, under the laws of the State, 



SOAP FOR EXPORTATION. 361 

its manufacture was prohibited. The manufacture of oleomargarine 
oil, however, is still a large trade in the business of the firm, and the 
product is sold for export to Great Britain, Holland, Belgium, and 
Germany. 

Within a few years a glycerine plant has been added to the works, 
by which the glycerine from the waste lyes is recovered. During the 
past year 12,100,000 pounds of raw material were used, producing 
10,250,000 pounds of manufactured goods. From 90 to 110 persons 
are constantly employed, and the annual pay-roll is $53,000. At 
present the firm makes laundry and toilet soaps, tallow, oleomargarine 
oil, stearine, glycerine, sal soda, ground bone, and a high grade of fer- 
tilizer. John Reardon, the founder of the business, died in 1883, at 
the age of eighty-three years. James H. Reardon died in 1887. The 
business at the present time is carried on by Edmund Reardon. 

C. L. JONES & CO., 
soap makers, 172 Pearl Street, Cambridge. — Business in this place 
was started about 1828 by Charles Valentine, and was originally con- 
fined to slaughtering cattle and packing beef. The manufacture of 
soap was added in order to work up the tallow which did not readily 
find a market, the soap being sold principally for export to the West 
Indies and South America. The history of the business from 1828 to 
1845 is involved in obscurity, but the soap business was only a side 
issue, and was probably carried on in a very crude way. In 1845 Mr. 
Valentine made an arrangement with Charles L. Jones, who was then 
operating a small factory in Boston, to take charge of his soap busi- 
ness, and the firm of C. L. Jones & Co. was established, Mr. Valentine 
still carrying on the beef -packing business under the name of C. Valen- 
tine & Co. In 1850, on the death of Mr. Valentine, the packing busi- 
ness was given up, and Mr. C. L. Jones then took entire charge of the 
soap business, associating with himself two of his brothers. 

The business at that time had grown to quite large proportions. 
Besides the manufacture of soap for export, a large business was done 
with the woolen mills, and in 1854 the manufacture of candles was 
added. Business kept on increasing, and the buildings were enlarged 
from time to time. 

In 1879 Charles L. Jones died, and the business from that time to 
this has been carried on by Henry E. Jones and Frank H. Jones. 

In 1881 the demand for candles had dwindled to small proportions, 
and that branch of the business was given up. About 1886 the factory 
was remodeled, and now, if worked to its full capacity, could turn out 
over ten million pounds a year. The export business, which was for- 
merly the principal output, is now a very small item. The only way 
the export orders could have been retained would have been to move 



362 FINANCIAL AND MANUFACTURING. 

the business to New York city, and the firm preferred to confine its 
operations to a domestic market. The product of the factory is now 
sold principally in New England and New York State. 

The utmost care is taken in the manufacture of the various brands 
of soap turned out by the factory, and it is the aim of the owners to 
make nothing but the best of its kind. The buildings consist of one 
wooden one, two hundred by sixty feet, two stories high ; one of brick 
for storage, one hundred by forty feet ; and a one-story building for 
the engine and boilers. The pay-roll averages about twenty thousand 
dollars per annum. The firm has an office in Boston, at 224 State 
Street, and employs four traveling salesmen to dispose of its product. 

Other soap manufacturers are Charles R. Teele. Lincoln Place, and 
Carr Brothers, Lopez Street. 



CARRIAGE MANUFACTURE. 

HENDERSON BROTHERS. 

Cambridge for many years has been more or less noted for its 
industry of carriage building. The most extensive carriage business 
in the city is that of Henderson Brothers, No. 2067 Massachusetts 
Avenue, North Cambridge. The brothers, John J. and Robert, began 
business in Cambridge in 1856. and were the pioneers in the estab- 
lishment of a carriage repository outside of Boston. Four years ago 
their factory was completely swept away by fire, but they have since 
rebuilt, and have now the largest carriage repository in the United 
States. The main building is of brick, two hundred and fifty feet by 
eighty-five, and five stories high. In the rear of the repository are 
three factories, one two hundred and twelve by fifty feet, and two 
others which, combined, have an equal area. 

The firm manufacture brakes, drags, barges, wagons, mail, depot, 
hotel, and passenger carriages. In their repository they have wagons 
of all kinds, barges, caravans, hacks, landaus, coupe's, and light cai'- 
riages ; also sleighs and pungs. 

FRANCIS IVERS & SON. 

The business of F. Ivers & Son was started by the elder Ivers in 
1 858 or 1859. Their factory is located on the corner of Allen Street 
and Massachusetts Avenue, about one mile from Harvard Square. 
The buildings are well adapted for their purpose, and cover an area 
of 20,700 feet. 

The firm make a specialty of the " Ivers " buggy and light road 
wagons. Their business extends over the United States, and they 
have a large export trade. 



CARRIAGES AND STABLE EQUIPMENTS. 363 

Ivers & Son were the first to apply the bicycle wheel to the racing 
sulky, and they are now agents for Western houses who make that 
style of vehicle. 

HUGH STEWART & CO. 
In 1878 Mr. Stewart began the manufacture of carriages in Boston, 
but business increased so rapidly that he was soon compelled to seek 
larger quarters. He removed his plant to Cambridgeport, and in 
1891 erected the factory now occupied by the firm, on Main Street, 
at the junction of Harvard and Sixth streets. The same year he 
admitted as partner his former bookkeeper, J. F. Cutter. The firm 
do an extensive business in the manufacture of cai*riages, and have a 
large repair-shop connected with the factory. 

THE NELSON CARRIAGE CO. 
The Nelson Carriage Co. was established by its present proprietor, 
Joseph L. Nelson, in 1891. The factory is located at Nos. 10 to 16 
Palmer Street, and the salesroom is in Roberts Building, Harvard 
Square. The company manufacture a general line of carriages and 
wagons, and employ ten to fifteen men ; they also deal in harnesses, 
horse clothing, and bicycles. 

ANDREW J. JONES. 
In 1846 Mr. Jones began the business of carriage building in Cam- 
bridge, and now occupies a brick building on the corner of Church and 
Palmer streets, where he manufactures heavy wagons and employs 
several men. The upper floor of his factory is used for a furniture 
storage warehouse. 

CHARLES WAUGH & CO. 
The business of Charles Waugh & Co., Nos. 442 to 450 Main Street, 
Cambridgeport, was begun in 1873, under the name of Waugh Bro- 
thers. The present company was formed in 1884, and they do a large 
business as builders of sleighs, police patrol wagons, carriages," light 
wagons, heavy caravans, and drags. The firm also handle horse cloth- 
ing and stable equipments. A considerable number of men are em- 
ployed. 

CHAPMAN CARRIAGE CO. 
In 1829 Francis L. Chapman began the business of carriage build- 
ing, and continued the same until the time of his death in 1893. His 
successoi-s are George O. Rollins and George M. Church, and they 
carry on the business under the name of the Chapman Carriage Co. 
Their specialty is the "Chapman," "Goddard," and "Stanhope" bug- 
gies, but they make to order carriages of all descriptions. The Com- 



364 FINANCIAL AND MANUFACTURING. 

pany is located at No. 10 Brattle Street, and has large repair-shops 
and storage-rooms for carriages. 

The other carriage manufacturers in Cambridge are : Stewart 
Brothers, George R. Henderson, Cambridge Carriage Co., J. A. Hen- 
derson & Son, H. F. Fletcher & Co. 

FURNITURE MANUFACTURE. 

Edwin Hixon was undoubtedly the pioneer in furniture manufac- 
turing in Cambridge. Beginning in 1845, he carried on the business 
for many years. At one time Cambridge acquired the reputation of 
being a furniture centre ; and although the volume of business in that 
line has been largely reduced, there are at this time several extensive 
and prosperous concerns in the city. 

KEELER & CO. 

Keeler & Co., manufacturers of fine furniture and cabinet work, 
are located at the corner of Second and Thorndike streets. East Cam- 
bridge, with warerooms at Nos. 81 to 91 Washington Street, Bos- 
ton, and are the successors to the widely known business of F. Gel- 
dowsky. 

Mr. Geldowsky started in a very small way on Utica Street, Boston, 
about 1862. Two years later he moved to East Cambridge, where he 
enlarged his business, and his name soon became known over the 
United States and Canada for the quality and style of his work. For 
twenty years he ranked preeminently the leading manufacturer of fur- 
niture in America. In 1877 Mr. Geldowsky met financial reverses, 
and shortly afterwards Messrs. C P. Keeler & Son assumed the con- 
trol of the business, retaining Mr. Geldowsky as manager. They 
then occupied the immense plant bounded by First, Second, Otis, and 
Thorndike streets. January, 1884, Messrs. Keeler & Co. opened their 
large retail warerooms at Nos. 81 to 91 Washington Street, leaving 
Mr. Geldowsky in charge of the manufacturing business. In 1888 
Messrs. Keeler & Co. again took control of the factory, Mr. Geldow- 
sky continuing in their employ until his death in July, 1890. During 
the past ten years they have made a feature of fine cabinet work, and 
have completed order work from special designs for many public 
buildings, among which are the City Hall, Fall River ; State House 
Extension, Boston ; City Hall, Cambridge ; Norfolk County Court 
House, Dedham ; and Middlesex County buildings, East Cambridge ; 
a number of banks, offices, lihraries, and armories. 

The present firm of Keeler & Co. is composed of Alvin F. Sortwell, 
of this city, special partner, and Ruel P. Buzzell, general partner. 



FINE FURNITURE. 365 

W. C. H. BADGER & CO. 

W. C. H. Badger & Co., furniture manufacturers, are located in a 
large brick building on Albany Street, near Massachusetts Avenue, 
Cambridgeport. The members of the firm are W. C. H. Badger and 
George F. Tyler, who are the successors to a business established more 
than fifty years. The factory is two hundred by fifty feet, and five 
stories high, and is complete in every department for the manufacture 
of furniture, having a 150 horse-power engine, latest improved drying 
apparatus, and storehouses for lumber with capacity for one hundred 
and fifty thousand feet. 

The firm manufacture only the fine grades of furniture, using prin- 
cipally mahogany and quartered oak, and when in full operation em- 
ploy about one hundred and twenty-five men. They have a large trade 
all through New England. 

A. B. & E. L. SHAW. 

A. B. & E. L. Shaw, East Cambridge, are makers of parlor, church, 
and lodge furniture. The business was established in 1780 by Jacob 
Foster & Son, and has been continuous since that date. The successors 
to Jacob Foster & Son were Charles Foster, 1828 ; Foster, Lawrence 
& Co., 1833 ; Edward Lawrence, 1856 ; Braman, Shaw & Co., 1863 ; 
Shaw, Applin & Co., 1877 ; A. B. & E. L. Shaw, 1887. 

The old firms of Foster, Lawrence & Co. and Edward Lawrence 
employed convict labor at the Massachusetts State Prison in Charles- 
town, but when Braman, Shaw & Co. succeeded to the business it was 
removed to East Cambridge. For the past ten years the present firm 
have occupied the Geldowsky factory, and they employ from one hun- 
dred and fifty to two hundred hands. The firm do the largest busi- 
ness in the manufacture of fine upholstered furniture in New England, 
and have furnished some of the finest clubs, lodges, and hotels in the 
country, among the latter The Niagara at Buffalo, Hotel del Coronado 
of San Diego, Cal., The Imperial, The Netherlands, and The Savoy of 
New York city, The Walton of Philadelphia, and the Jefferson of 
Richmond, Virginia, and they now have the contract to furnish the 
new Manhattan of New York, a fourteen-story building, which will be 
run by Hawk & Wetherbee, the present proprietors of The Windsor of 
New York. 

IRVING & CASSON. 

Irving & Casson have been located in East Cambridge about fifteen 
years. They have a large factory at the corner of First and Otis streets, 
and employ between two and three hundred men. They make fine cus- 
tom cabinet work, mantels, and interior finish for high-class dwellings, 
and have a large business in St. Louis, Buffalo, Chicago, St. Paul, 



366 FINANCIAL AND MANUFACTURING. 

Washington, Troy, and New York. Their Boston office and show- 
rooms are at 150 Boylston Street. 

ROURKE & KENNEDY. 
Rourke & Kennedy, 682 Massachusetts Avenue, are the successors 
of Phillips Brothers & Co., manufacturers of furniture. The firm do 
a large business throughout New England in desks, bookcases, plumb- 
ers' supplies, Phillips's folding-beds, and general cabinet work. Their 
factory is well equipped for taking large contracts. 

THE OTIS WOODWORKS, 
John Quin, proprietor, is located on Otis Street, East Cambridge. The 
concern turns out a large amount of mouldings, builders' finish, store 
and office fixtures, drawer-cases, and washstands. 

A. H. DAVENPORT 
has a large furniture factory on Bridge Street, East Cambridge, with 
Boston warerooms on Washington Street. 

THE D. C. STORR FURNITURE CO. 
is located on Thorndike Street, corner of First. 

Among other furniture manufacturers are G. F. Ericson, maker of 
wood mantels, cabinet and interior work, State Street, Cambridgeport ; 
Graves & Phelps, tables ; T. B. Wentworth, pulpits ; A. M. & D. W. 
Grant, William W. Robertson, P. A. Pederson, and Lee L. Powers, 
makers of cabinet work. 

MISCELLANEOUS MANUFACTURES. 

BOSTON WOVEN HOSE AND RUBBER CO. 1 
In 1870 Lyman R. Blake, the inventor of the original sole sewing 
machine, so successfully exploited by Gordon McKay, long a citizen 
of Cambridge, devisec\ a machine for sewing up strips of rubber-coated 
canvas into hydraulic hose. This machine was shortly afterward pur- 
chased by Colonel Theodore A. Dodge, who, having been placed on the 
retired list of the army, had taken up his residence in Cambridge, and 
the manufacture of " Blake hose " was begun. 

At first the article produced was acceptable rather from its cheap- 
ness than from its solidity ; and although the original somewhat flimsy 
garden hose gradually grew into engine hose really excellent and dur- 
able, and although the one place in the hose which never gave out was 

1 The reader is indebted for this interesting description of the Woven 
Hose Co. to Colonel Theodore Ayrault Dodge. — Editor. 




Mm 



WOVEN HOSE AND RUBBER CO. 367 

the line of stitches, the public was apt to look askance at the seam, 
and the article was not a favorite. 

When, therefore, in 1872, James E. Gillespie approached Colonel 
Dodge with the drawings of a loom to weave multiply-tubular fabrics, 
the latter was quick to grasp its possibilities. Theretofore tubular 
goods had been woven only on flat looms, a process which left a weak 
spot along their edge. It had been impossible to "beat up" goods 
woven in the round form so as to make them sufficiently solid, and 
only braided round fabrics had been used. As a first construction, 
Gillespie's loom was remarkable, but its eighty thousand parts made 
it all too liable to break down. To assist Gillespie, Colonel Dodge, in 
1873, hired a young machinist named Robert Cowen, and from that 
year on until to-day, when he is vice-president of the company and 
superintendent of a factory where a thousand men and women are 
working day and night to fill orders, Mr. Cowen has been the soul of 
the enterprise, the inventor, designer, and organizer of every new 
manufacture, and the one who, through years of difficulty and disap- 
pointment, has stood by his employer and wrought courageously and 
energetically, until the fitting reward has in due time come. 

Gillespie soon dropped out, and for a number of years Cowen's 
experiments to simplify the loom resulted only in outlay. It was a 
brand-new thing. Old loom experts predicted failure ; old firemen 
pronounced the hose unpractical. Although some fire departments 
used " Boyd " hose, a cotton fabric riveted together like leather hose, 
and then rubber-lined, it was hard to persuade the trade that rubber- 
lined cotton hose was suitable for garden hose. In 1873 Colonel 
Dodge successfully tested the first length ever made of rubber-lined, 
multiply-woven cotton fire hose before the fire commissioners of Bos- 
ton. It had been made on the Gillespie-Cowen loom ; but though the 
hose itself was good, it was so difficult to persuade the fire departments 
to use it, that Colonel Dodge was frequently taxed with Quixotism, if 
not outright idiocy, in persisting in his efforts. For at least ten years, 
however, these efforts went on, Dodge and Cowen working in unison, 
but with heavy financial loss to the former, until in 1880, after one 
hundred and fifty thousand dollars had been spent in experimenting, 
the two associates, under the name of the Boston Woven Hose Co., 
began a legitimate manufacture in a very small way in two rooms in 
part of the Curtis Davis Soap Factory on Portland Street, with only 
one man and a boy to assist. Such was the humble origin of the pres- 
ent extensive manufactories. In the first year some fifteen thousand 
feet of cotton garden hose were marketed, — about a quarter as much 
as is often made in one day in the present works, — and the hose 
proved satisfactory. Orders began to come in, and the premises and 
force were gradually increased and the machinery perfected, until the 



3G8 



FINANCIAL AND MANUFACTURING. 



business was so promising as quite to outrun the capital Colonel Dodge 
could afford to devote to it. In the spring of 1884 he took in another 
associate, and Mr. J. Edwin Davis became treasurer of the new cor- 
poration then formed with a capital of one hundred and fifty thou- 
sand dollars, but retaining the old name. Mr. Davis has ever since 
been treasurer and manager, and to his energy, adaptability to his new 
conditions, and unusual business intelligence, as well as to the fact 
that Mr. Cowen and he have worked together with great harmony, is 
largely due the exceptional success of the enterprise. At that time the 
business had grown to employ some sixty hands, and was occupying 
a building on Broadway, opposite the present location of the factory. 
In 188(3, however, although there were not far from eighteen thousand 
square feet of floor-room in this factory, the enterprise had grown to 
so considerable a size that it was determined to erect a plant especially 
adapted to the needs of the business, and the old Kinsley iron prop- 
erty, on the corner of Portland and Hampshire streets, was purchased, 
and a substantial brick building erected, with a number of recon- 
structed outbuildings. The enterprise, which had grown to require 
two hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars in 1888, was now incor- 
porated in Massachusetts, with three hundred and fifty thousand dol- 
lars cash capital. In 1892 adjoining land was bought, and a new and 
larger mill with more outbuildings were added. In 1893 the capital 
was increased to six hundred thousand dollars. The following table 
of hands employed and floor-space occupied best tells the story of the 
growth of the company : — 



Date. 


Employed. 


Floor Surface. 


January 1 


1880 
1881 


7 
25 


persons. 


3,660 square feet. 


!< It 


1882 


35 


" 




It It 


1883 


40 


ii 


17,700 square feet. 


ii U 

It u 


1884 
L885 


59 
G5 


u 




a t< 


L886 


89 


" 




it « 


1887 


104 


u 


58,831 square feet. 




1888 


184 


it 




a it 

tt t 


INS!) 

1890 
1891 


1 is 
163 
181 


u 
u 




11 I 


1892 


216 


" 




tt 1 


L893 


280 


" 


178,765 square feet. 


" ' 


1894 


366 


it 




" ' 


1895 


422 


" 




ii i 


1896 


975 




247,530 square feet. 



While the original manufacture of the company was hydraulic hose, 
- still one of its largest products, the annual output reaching many 



NON-PUNCTURABLE TIRES. 3G9 

million feet, — the energy of Mr. Cowen, responding to the demand 
created by Mr. Davis, gradually extended the scope of its business, 
and belting, packing, gaskets, mould-work, mechanical goods of all 
kinds, almost everything in rubber except clothing and shoes, brass 
fittings, and other metal goods, became staples of its trade. 

There is probably no factory in America where there is at work 
more ingenious machinery not known elsewhere, and this is the crea- 
tion of Robert Cowen, aided by a staff of old and young employees, 
numbering men who have learned by hard knocks, men who have been 
taught at the Institute of Technology, men who have served the com- 
pany for twenty odd years, and men who but last year entered its 
service. Each has contributed his part. 

No assumption is more certain in America than that a man who 
works with energy, intelligence, and economy will eventually succeed. 
Ill luck at rare intervals negatives this assumption, but ill luck is wont 
to come from neglect of one or another of the three postulates, usually 
the last. It is, in fact, this certainty of success which makes America 
the Eldorado of workmen. In the case of the Boston Woven Hose 
and Rubber Co., never-ceasing push, rare intelligence, and judicious 
economy have been fully rewarded. 

In 1893 experiments were begun in bicycle tires, and the next year 
a good many thousand tires were marketed ; and in 1895 still more, 
both " Vici " tires with an inner tube, and "Vim " hose-pipe tires, and 
the latter at once became a pronounced success. The "Vim" proved 
to be speedy, non-puncturable and durable, and at the end of 1895 the 
company found itself almost snowed under by orders for 1896. 

The capital stock was again increased by another three hundred 
thousand dollars cash, — nine hundred thousand dollars in all, — the 
force at the factory was nearly doubled, and part of the machinery 
was run twenty-four hours a day. At the inception of this memorial 
year, it is doubtful whether any concern within the limits of Cambridge 
is employing more of its citizens in healthful factory-rooms, at good 
wages, and with reasonable hours of work. 

There are within the factory walls a well-equipped laboratory, a 
printing and lithographic office, and a machine-shop employing forty 
men. Flat looms weave the peculiar goods for the bicycle tires, and 
circular looms turn out the hose. A large reclaiming plant is kept 
busy, and the rubber machinery is unsurpassed in the w r orld. Perhaps 
as high a compliment as can be paid to Robert Cowen is that during all 
the years he has, as superintendent, been helping to build up this great 
industry, he has never had a strike, a shut-down, or a lock-out, and no 
concern has more employees who have grown gray in its service. 
They number many scores of men and women who have worked for 
it from a dozen to twenty years. 



370 FINANCIAL AND MANUFACTURING. 

At the other end of the line in Boston, the work is done with equal 
zeal and discretion. Over twenty traveling salesmen and thirty office- 
employees are engaged in distributing the manufactures of the com- 
pany, while the branch stores in New York, Chicago, St. Louis, 
Denver, and San Francisco almost double this staff. It is not often 
that it can be said that a young man undertakes the management of a 
business within a year of graduation (Mr. Davis is a Harvard '83 
boy), and builds it up to so high a plane, without a single period of 
relapse. In each year since 1882 the annual sales have increased, 
the credit has bettered, and the standing of the concern become more 
firm. It has steadily discounted its purchases of raw material, and 
even during panic years has seen no day when it had to ask the 
renewal of a note, or an undue favor of a bank. A uniform dividend 
of eight per cent, a year has been steadily paid, and a considerable 
surplus put into new buildings and machinery. Tbe men who have 
made the concern so prosperous are Robert Cowen and J. Edwin 
Davis, as for some years past Colonel Dodge, though retaining the 
presidency, has been much absent, and has exercised only an advisory 
control. Yet his juniors insist that at times they are glad to rely 
upon his judgment, matured by many years of intimate knowledge of 
the underlying requirements of the business, and they are unwilling to 
permit him to retire from the helm. 

The directors have been unchanged for years : the three officers 
already named, and Messrs. J. N. Smith and Rhodes Lockwood. 

In the average mind Cambridge is associated with the shady elms 
under which have walked and studied and played so many of our 
foremost citizens ; its notable manufacturing facilities are known to 
few outside of the vicinity of Boston. There are, however, few cities 
in the world where building land and building facilities are so good ; 
where water is abundant ; where coal can be delivered in the original 
bottom at the very door of your boiler-room ; where freight is taken 
from and brought into your own yard ; where municipal control, insur- 
ance, and taxes are so fair ; where a superb fire department watches 
over the safety of the factory plant ; where intelligent labor can be so 
readily obtained at a moment's notice, and at a price which is fair to 
both employer and employee ; where the workmen can live well and 
comfortably, enjoying an unsurpassed school-system and the advan- 
tages of a beautiful park ; where, associated with the grand old univer- 
sity, there is such an institution as the Cambridge Manual Training 
School, at which any mechanic may see his son trained free of cost 
and fitted for the true American upward career. To Cambridge her- 
self, as much as to any other one thing, is the success of all her manu- 
facturing enterprises due, and all agree in acknowledging it. 

The enterprise which forms the subject of this monograph is sound 



THE BEGINNING OF A GREAT BUSINESS. 371 

to the core, and the city of Cambridge may well reckon the Boston 
Woven Hose and Rubber Co. among the best samples of prosperity 
in its memorial year. 

JOHN P. SQUIRE & CO. 

The history of the firm of John P. Squire & Co. Corporation, one 
of the large manufacturing interests in the city of Cambridge, is prac- 
tically the story of the life and struggles of its founder, Mr. John P. 
Squire. 

Mr. Squire was born in Weathersfield, Vt., May 8, 1819, and was 
the son of Peter and Esther (Craigue) Squire. He spent his boy- 
hood days on his father's farm, working during the vacations and 
attending the public schools in term time. This early experience on a 
New England farm was no hindrance to him in his later experience 
in business life. His first introduction to business was in his sixteenth 
year, when he entered the store of Mr. Gad Orvis, in the village of 
West Windsor, Yt. He remained with Mr. Orvis until the winter of 
1837, and, although everything was conducted on a very small scale, 
he gained a good deal of insight into the methods of business manage- 
ment. 

In the winter of 1837, feeling the need of a better education, he 
attended the academy at Unity, N. H., of which the late Rev. A. A. 
Miner was then the principal ; and during a part of the same year, to 
enable him to pay his expenses at the academy, he taught school at 
Cavendish, Vt. This finished his school education. He left the home 
of his boyhood, and moved to Boston March 19, 1838. He went to 
work immediately for Nathan Robbins, who was in business in Quincy 
Market, now commonly called Faneuil Hall Market, and continued 
with him until April 30, 1842, when he started for himself and 
formed a partnership with Francis Russell, under the style of Russell 
& Squire, at No. 25 Faneuil Hall Market, where the new firm carried 
on a provision business until 1817, when it was dissolved. 

Mr. Squire continued the business at the same place alone until 
1850, when the firm of John P. Squire & Co. was formed, his partners 
being Hiland Lockwood, who married Mr. Squire's sister, and Edward 
D. Kimball. This firm name of John P. Squire & Co. continued 
from that time until April 30, 1892, when the John P. Squire & Co. 
Corporation was formed. The partners of Mi\ Squire changed several 
times between 1850 and the date of the formation of the corporation, 
and the changes were as follows : — 

Edward D. Kimball retired and W. W. Kimball was admitted into 
the firm in the year 1866 ; in 1873 George W. Squire and Frank O. 
Squire, sons of Mr. Squire, became partners, and W. W. Kimball 
retired ; Hiland Lockwood died in 1871, and George W. Squire with- 



372 FINANCIAL AND MANUFACTURING. 

drew in 1876 ; Fred F. Squire, the youngest son, became a partner 
January 1, 1884. 

When the corporation was formed, Mr. John P. Squire became 
president ; Mr. Frank 0. Squire, vice-president ; and Mr. Fred F. 
Squire, treasurer. 

In 1855 Mr. Squire bought a small tract of land in East Cam- 
bridge, on Miller's River, and built a slaughter-house, which was then 
adequate for the business. Additions and changes have been made 
from time to time, until now the corporation has one of the largest, 
most modern, and best-equipped packing-houses in the country, and 
the business carried on ranks as third in the hog-packing industry in 
the United States. 

A short sketch showing the growth and facilities of the business as 
now carried on as contrasted with the early days may not be without 
interest. At first but one hog a day was slaughtered ; and when the 
number slaughtered per day was twenty-five Mr. Squire thought, as he 
often remarked before his death, that he was on the high road to suc- 
cess. The average number now slaughtered varies from 2500 to over 
4000 per day for every working day in the year, with a capacity for 
slaughtering 6000 per day. The total business done by Mr. Squire 
the first year amounted to about $16,000. At present the business 
aggregates about $16,000,000. The tract of land on which the plant 
is located has grown from the small piece first purchased in 1855 to 
include twenty-two acres, of which nearly fourteen are covered by 
buildings, the main building being six stories high and having several 
acres of floor space. 

Originally the meats were cooled by placing them in large boxes of 
chopped ice. This crude method was superseded by using large build- 
ings filled with ice, the lower portions of which were thus made refri- 
gerators. One such was built by Mr. Squire about the year 1881, 
which held 37,000 tons of ice, and had three or four floors for cooling 
purposes besides the basement. After the fire of October 5, 1891, 
which destroyed the hog-house and burned out the interior of this 
large refrigerator, Mr. Squire adopted the De La Vergne system of 
ai'tificial refrigeration, and built a large building wherein were located 
two large machines with a daily ice-melting capacity of 300 tons, and 
had this large refrigerator building equipped with the piping necessary 
for carrying on the refrigeration. By means of this change the area 
for cooling purposes was largely increased, having now a total of nine 
acres under refrigeration, and there can be hung at one time in this 
refrigerator 12,000 hogs. A large additional chimney, higher than 
Bunker Hill Monument, had to be built, and several new boilers to run 
the machinery had to be put in ; the changes made necessary in the 
adoption of this improved system have largely increased the equip- 



ELECTRIC LIGHTING. 373 

ment and the facilities for carrying on the pork-packing business of 
this corporation. 

The live hogs are purchased in the West, and are shipped by rail to 
the packing-house in East Cambridge, and the freight paid for trans- 
portation amounts to a sum above $700,000 per annum. There are 
about 1000 men employed at the packing-house, and it may fairly be 
ranked as one of the important industries of the city of Cambridge. 

Mr. Squire was a man of strict business integrity, very modest and 
unassuming in his demeanor ; a man who was just in his dealing with 
all men. He was a man who to a large business capacity and experi- 
ence added a keen foresight and a power to forecast the future. 

The business has been continued since his death, January 7, 1893, 
by the corporation formed, as above stated, April 30, 1892. 

Mr. Squire married, March 31, 1843, Kate Green Orvis, the daughter 
of his first employer, Mr. Gad Orvis, and left at his death nine chil- 
dren. His two sons, Frank O. and Fred F. Squire, are at the head 
of the business. He built up the business he left and held the position 
which he did in commercial circles by reason of his untiring energy, 
his undaunted courage, his ability, and his strict integrity, and, by all 
the rules of the business world, earned all that he gained. 

THE CAMBRIDGE ELECTRIC LIGHT CO. 

The first meeting for the organization of this company was held 
December 1, 1885. 

About that time much interest was felt in having the city lighted 
by electricity. The city had given assurances that a franchise would 
be granted in the streets for the erection and maintenance of poles and 
wires ; and in the organization of the company the commissioner of 
corporations of Massachusetts allowed as part of the capital of the 
company (which was $60,000) the sum of $15,000 as the value of 
such franchise. 

This so-called watering of the stock remained as part of the capital 
stock until 1895, when it was charged off from the earnings of the 
company and is no longer a part of the assets, although when mort- 
gage bonds were issued the franchise was included as part of the prop- 
erty of the company. 

The original members of the corporation were John E. Burgess, 
George A. Burgess, Porter A. Underwood, A. J. Applegate, and 
E. H. Mulliken. 

Subscriptions for stock were opened, and L. M. Hannum, A. P. 
Morse, Dr. Charles Bullock, S. S- Sleeper, C. W. Kingsley, Gustavus 
Goepper, and others became stockholders, there being twenty-four in 
all. John E. Burgess, George A. Burgess, and P. A. Underwood 
were elected directors, and, January 27, 1886, were made officers of 



374 FINANCIAL AND MANUFACTURING. 

the company at a meeting of the stockholders then held : John E. 
Burgess, president ; George A. Burgess, treasurer ; P. A. Underwood, 
clerk, and E. H. Mulliken. superintendent. 

On December 30, 1886, the hoard of aldermen authorized the com- 
pany to erect and maintain poles and wires on Main Street from West 
Boston Bridge to Brattle Square, and soon after a few arc lamps were 
installed. On September 1, 1887, 77 public arcs, 7 commercial arcs, 
and 847 incandescent lamps had been installed in the city. 

At this time the city lighting was very poor, owing to the system in 
use and the imperfect construction of the lines and poles. In time 
that was obviated by the introduction of a new system, and the rebuild- 
ing almost entirely of the pole-lines, so as to avoid connection with 
trees and other obstructions. At the present time no better lighted 
streets are to be found in the State ; and the city, as well as consumers 
generally, is seldom without a good and continuous service. 

Messrs. Josiah Q. Bennett and F. H. Raymond were elected direc- 
tors September 2, 1887. Mr. Bennett becoming the president and Mr. 
Raymond treasurer, which offices they have held until the present 
time. 

The plant was originally placed in a wooden building belonging to 
George L. Damon, at 23 Main Street, the foundations of which were 
so unstable, and the business of the company increased so rapidly, that 
the stockholders determined upon a removal to some more commodious 
and convenient location nearer the centre of distribution for the cur- 
rent. The present location on Western Avenue was selected, the land 
purchased, and suitable buildings erected ; and on the 11th of October, 
1888, at twelve o'clock noon, the current was let on from the new sta- 
tion, just exactly two years from the date when the current was started 
in the old station. 

On March 5, 1888. the stockholders authorized the issue of new 
capital up to $100,000, and on December 10, 1888, a still further issue 
was authorized up to $200,000, which is the present capital stock. 

March 15, 1888, Mr. Mulliken resigned his position as superintend- 
ent, and Walter R. Eaton was chosen to take his place, which position 
he occupied until B. Otis Danforth was elected in April, 1891. Mr. 
Danforth now holds the office of superintendent. 

In April, 1888, the Thompson-Houston Electric Company purchased 
a controlling interest in the stock of the company, and the old systems 
of electrical machinery made by the Weston and American Electric 
Company were changed to the Thompson-Houston system, which is 
now practically in use. A syndicate was formed in the latter part of 
1889 to take the stock held by the Thompson-Houston Electric Com- 
pany, and they parted with their interest. Many citizens of Cam- 
bridge not before stockholders became interested in the company. 



COLLARS AND CUFFS. 375 

In 1889 the subject of running the street-cars by electricity began 
to attract the attention of the horse railroad company. 

H. M. Whitney, president of the West End Street Railway Co., 
was one of the first to take definite action, and this company first 
supplied the current to storage batteries upon the Cambridge division 
of the West End Street Railway Co. The experiment was not at all 
satisfactory, and as the trolley-system had now been invented by Van 
de Poele, the West End Street Railway Co. adopted it, and Cam- 
bridge cars were first equipped with motors under that system, and 
from July, 1889, until April, 1892, all the cars equipped with elec- 
tricity were run by power furnished the West End by this company. 
The business of the Cambridge Electric Light Co. having grown to 
such proportions as to require all the available plant, and the West 
End Co. having about finished its new power-stations in Boston and 
East Cambridge, the electric light company was forced to discontinue 
delivering power to the West End Co. 

The business of the company has shown a constant increase since its 
formation, and ciu-rent is now furnished to over 500 arc lamps and 
15,000 incandescent lamps, besides about 125 motors for mechanical 
purposes, from coffee-mills to printing-presses. 

The number of men employed in 1887 was only six, and the total 
income at that time was not over $1500 per month, eighty per cent, 
of which was paid by the city. 

The company now employs from thirty-five to forty men, and the 
monthly income is about $10,000, the city paying for street lighting 
about forty per cent, of that amount, showing the comparatively large 
increase in commercial lighting and power. House consumption is 
rapidly on the increase, and the most of the new dwellings are equipped 
with electric wiring. 

For the past three years the company has been somewhat restricted 
in its growth by the agitation of municipal control, the first step being 
taken by the city council each year, but not consummated until late in 
1895. 

REVERSIBLE COLLAR CO. 

Among the diversified business interests of Cambridge is that of the 
manufacture of the " linene " collars and cuffs. The history of the 
Reversible Collar Co. is a story of a third of a century of marked 
business prosperity. In the early " sixties," the manufacture of paper 
collars was an important industry ; the goods enjoying much favor 
from the general public. 

In 1862 the late Mr. George K. Snow invented improvements in 
machinery and processes for the manufacture of paper collars, and 
a business arrangement was made with Messrs. March Brothers, 



376 FINANCIAL AND MANUFACTURING. 

Pierce & Co., of Boston, for the manufacture and sale of the goods 
made by the improved methods. 

After the close of the Civil War, a hetter and more substantial class 
of goods was introduced, and the paper collar gradually went out of 
use. Mr. Snow, however, kept his inventive faculty at work, and his 
inventions kept pace with the demand for better goods. In 1866 The 
Reversible Collar Co. was incorporated. Mr. Snow became its presi- 
dent, and George N. March, treasurer, and the manufacturing business 
of the company which had heretofore been done in Boston was trans- 
ferred to Cambridge. The building situated between Arrow and 
Mount Auburn streets was purchased and prepared for the use of the 
company. About this time Mr. Snow invented and patented a machine 
for uniting cloth and paper in continuous rolls, which before this had 
always been done by hand, and in sheets, and the larger portion used 
was imported from England. 

Mr. Snow's invention enabled the company to produce the most 
perfect fabric for machine-made collars that had been discovered, and 
the same method is now used in the manufacture of the fabric from 
which " linene " goods are made. 

In 1883 George N. March retired from the office of treasurer, and 
Eben Denton was chosen treasurer and general manager. Mr. Denton, 
finding that the collar business of the company used but a part of the 
plant, introduced a separate branch of business, that of manufacturing 
colored, glazed, and enameled papers ; these met great success, and 
the demand for them rapidly increased. 

Mr. Snow died in the summer of 1885, and Phineas Pierce was 
then chosen president, and Robert Butterworth superintendent of the 
works. The business of the company rapidly increased, and additions 
to the buildings were made at different times, until all the land of the 
original plant was covered. 

In 1893 the company again found itself cramped for room, and it 
was necessary to seek a new location. A large lot of land extending 
from Putnam Avenue to Banks Street was purchased, and in 1895 
one of the handsomest manufacturing buildings in Cambridge was 
erected. The main building is 222 feet long, 76 feet wide, and is 
three stories high above the basement ; the engine and boiler house is 
fifty-seven by sixty feet, and two stories high, and the smokestack rises 
127 feet above the ground. 

The company employs about 125 persons, chiefly men. In addi- 
tion to the manufacture of the " linene " collars and cuffs, the output 
of which in 1895 was 11,573,000, about 1440 tons of coated, enam- 
eled, and glazed paper were finished and sold. 



NETS FOR FISHERMEN. 377 

AMERICAN NET AND TWINE CO. 

The American Net and Twine Co. is located on land extending from 
Second to Third Street in East Cambridge, where are manufactured 
all kinds of cotton and linen nettings used in the different fisheries 
of the American continent. 

This company commenced business in a very small way in the year 
1842, and was located in the same building where their office now is, 
34 Commercial Street, Boston. 

At the time this business was established the fish-netting of this 
country was all made by hand, and was made almost entirely of hemp 
twines imported from England. 

In the year 1844 James S. Shepard, of Canton, became connected 
with the company, and commenced the manufacture of the first cotton 
twine used for netting in this country, which eventually completely dis- 
placed the hemp twines in the American fisheries. 

From this small beginning this company has steadily increased in 
size and capacity to its present standing, which finds it the largest pro- 
ducer of fish-nettings, twines, and lines in the world. 

In the course of events, as their business increased and machinery 
was invented for the manufacture of netting, these machines were 
added to their plant, and constant additions were made until, in the year 
1875, their old quarters being entirely inadequate to the handling of 
their business, they located in East Cambridge in the factory which 
they at present occupy. 

This factory was built expressly for the manufacture of netting, and 
is a model of convenience for the work for which it is intended. 

The " Gold Medal " brand of cotton twine and netting, which is well 
known throughout all the fisheries of this continent, is manufactured 
by this company in their own mill. At their cotton-mill at Canton 
they manufacture from the raw material the cotton twines which are 
sent to the Cambridge factory, and there put into the great variety of 
sizes and shapes required in the different kinds of nets, seines, and 
pounds used in the commercial fisheries of the continent. 

They also make a specialty of the linen gill netting business, and are 
proprietors of the " A. N. & T." " Coy " brand of linen gilling, 
which probably is more used in the gill net fisheries than all other 
brands combined. 

Their manufactures have received the highest award in every instance 
where exhibited in competition with others. At the " Centennial " 
Exposition in Philadelphia, the "World's Fisheries Exhibition" in 
London, England, in 1883, and the " World's Fair " in Chicago in 
1893, they came in competition with manufactures of the world, and 
secured the highest award in every line of work, receiving the only 
gold medal awarded in London, England, in 1883. 



378 FINANCIAL AND MANUFACTURING. 

At the factory at East Cambridge are employed some three hundred 
hands, where, with the patented machinery invented and developed by 
their own means, this company is enabled to produce at the lowest pos- 
sible cost the great variety of goods employed in the fisberies. 

The location of their factory at East Cambridge brings them in 
quick and easy communication with railroad and steamboat lines of 
Boston, enabling them to execute and deliver orders promptly to all 
parts of the North American continent. 

The home office of the company is in Boston, 34 Commercial Street, 
and their only branch office is located at 199 Fulton Street, New York. 

NEW YORK BISCUIT CO. 

This establishment, so well known all over the United States, was 
originally started by the late Artemas Kennedy in 1839, when he 
came to Cambridgeport and began business in a brick building on 
Main Street near Brookline, where he remained for about six years. 
He then built a frame house with bakery adjoining, on the site now 
occupied by the apartment house, the Lowell, Nos. 434 to 440 Mas- 
sachusetts Avenue. He continued to bake crackers in this bakery for 
a period of about ten years, the actual consumption of flour being 
about four barrels per day, which was kneaded, rolled, formed by 
hand, and the crackers were pitched into the oven one by one. He 
established routes within a radius of forty miles for selling and dis- 
posing of the product of his factory. Subsequently he shipped many 
goods to California during the gold fever, and also to Australia and 
England. Even so far back as 1855 steam was introduced into his 
factory, and the product was increased so that nine barrels of flour were 
turned out daily. He continued to increase his trade up to 1861, in 
which year he died, and Frank A. Kennedy, his only son, succeeded to 
the business. From that time the business increased very rapidly 
indeed, and agencies were established in New York city, Philadelphia, 
and Chicago. It was found necessary to run his factory night and 
day- In 1869 the first reel or mechanical ovens were built, which 
increased the capacity to about twenty barrels of flour per oven. 
From time to time more reel ovens were added to the plant, and in 
1875 a large brick building was erected on Green Street, the present 
site of the New York Biscuit Co. factory. Subsequently additional 
ovens were found necessary, and the business had a very rapid growth. 

In 1882 the F. A. Kennedy Co. was incorporated under the laws 
of Massachusetts, to succeed F. A. Kennedy, which corporation con- 
tinued to exist until the business was sold out to the New York Bis- 
cuit Co. on May 10, 1890. 

The New York Biscuit Co. is a corporation established under the 
laws of the State of Illinois, and was organized in 1889. It at first 



A BROKEN DINNER-BELL. 379 

simply included five or six bakeries in New York city, but during 
1890 plants were purchased in different sections of the country, and 
the F. A. Kennedy Co., as stated above, was bought by them on May 
10, 1890. The New York Biscuit Co. has factories and branches in 
all the leading cities of the United States. It controls the leading 
brands of crackers and biscuit known in this country, including the 
celebrated Kennedy. Holmes & Coutts, Larrabee, Bent & Co., Pear- 
son Pilot Bread, and in fact all of the leading standard brands of 
crackers and biscuit principally known east of the Mississippi River. 
It has a capital stock of nine million dollars. The principal office is 
in Chicago, 111. 

The Cambridgeport factory is the second largest plant of the New 
York Biscuit Co., and has the capacity of consuming from three hun- 
dred to four hundred barrels of flour per day. To take care of its 
output one hundred wagons and one hundred and fifty horses are 
used. Six hundred and fifty residents of the city of Cambridge are 
constantly employed in this factory. 

ALVAN CLAEK & SONS. 

In an article written by Professor Simon Newcomb, and published 
in " Scribner's Magazine " in 1873, he says : " When we trace back 
the chain of causes which led to the construction of the great "Washing- 
ton telescope, we find it to commence with so small a matter as the 
accidental breaking of a dinner-bell, in the year 1843, at the Phillips 
Academy, Andover, Mass." 

One of the students, George B. Clark by name, gathered up the 
fragments of the bell, took them to his home in Cambridgeport, melted 
them, and cast them into a disk. His father, Alvan Clark, assisted 
him, and the combined skill of father and son produced a five-inch 
reflecting telescope. Alvan Clai-k, the father, was born in Ashfield, 
Mass., in 1804, and was at this time a portrait painter ; he had decided 
mechanical tastes, and at one time had worked as a fine-line engraver. 

Taking up his new work with ardor, he spent several years making 
glasses of gradually increasing size. The first recognition of his 
genius came from England. The Rev. W. R. Dawes, a leading ama- 
teur astronomer, gave him an order for a glass, which was immediately 
followed by an order for a second one. 

Mr. Clark commenced the construction of a telescope for the Uni- 
versity of Mississippi, but on account of the outbreak of the Civil War, 
it was not delivered. It was afterwards sold to the Chicago Astro- 
nomical Society. He was awarded the Rumford medal for his 
approved method in locating errors and eliminating them by the 
method of local correction. His first work in telescope making was 
done in his home on Prospect Street, opposite the Tilton House. The 



380 FINANCIAL AND MANUFACTURING. 

firm moved to the present location at about 1860. Alvan Clark died 
in August, 1887, and George B. Clark in December, 1891. The busi- 
ness is now carried on by the remaining son, Alvan G. Clark. 

In 1862 Alvan G. Clark, by the aid of a newly constructed glass, 
discovered the companion to Sirius, and for this discovery he was 
awarded the Lelande medal of the French Academy of Sciences. 

Among the great telescopes made by this firm may be named the 
26-inch Washington Refractor, the 30-inch Pulkowa Refractor, the 
36-inch Lick Refractor, and the recently completed 40-inch Yerkes 
Refractor. 

The workshops are contained in a brick building, located near the 
residence of Mr. Clark, on the shore of Charles River, at the foot of 
Brookline Street. They are thoroughly equipped with all necessary 
machinery and tools. The firm of Alvan Clark & Sons stands at the 
head of telescope-makers. Their reputation is world-wide. 

THE CAMBRIDGE GAS LIGHT CO. 

A charter from the State of Massachusetts in 1852 granted Charles 
C. Little, Isaac Livermore, and Gardiner G. Hubbard, their associates 
and successors, the right of making and selling gas, and allowed them 
a capital of three hundred thousand dollars. 

The company was organized on the 22d day of June, 1852, by the 
election of John H. Blake, Isaac Livermore, Charles C. Little, Estes 
Howe, and Gardiner G. Hubbard as directors ; the last named was 
chosen president, and Estes Howe was the clerk and treasurer from 
the beginning until his death in 1887. 

Blake & Darracott were the contractors who erected the first 
works ; these works were located south of Mount Auburn Street, at the 
foot of Bath (then Bath Lane) and Ash streets, now appropriated for 
the Charles River Park. Pipes were laid in portions of Cambridge, 
and in 1856 they were extended into that part of Somerville lying 
southwesterly of the Boston & Lowell Railroad. 

In 1871, the output of gas having reached fifty-seven million cubic 
feet per annum, steps were taken to build larger works, and a transfer 
was made to the present location on Third Street (then Court Street) 
in East Cambridge. The capacity was one million feet per day, but 
there is ample room for all future extensions. In 1872, by authority 
of the State, the capital of the company was fixed at one million 
dollars, of which at the present time seven hundred thousand are paid 
in. In 1873 gas was made for a time in both localities, but in 1874 
the old works were permanently given up. 

In 1876 the advent of kerosene materially interfered with the use 
of gas. and the consumption, which in 1875 had been eighty-four mil- 
lion feet, fell to fifty-seven million feet in 1879. 



A RUBBER COMPANY. 381 

From 1879 the increase in consumption was gradual ; but in 1886, 
when the lighting of the streets was largely changed from gas to elec- 
tricity, a new impetus became apparent in indoor illumination, and the 
sales of gas, which in that year were ninety-seven million feet, rose 
rapidly to one hundred and seventy million feet in 1895 ; the use of 
gas in cooking and heating lias its share in this increase, and all shows 
a greater affluence among the inhabitants of the city. 

The present board of directors is composed of seven members : Wil- 
lard A. Bullard, Daniel U. Chamberlin, Henry Endicott, Stanley B. 
Hildreth, Henry C Rand, Daniel G. Tyler, and Quincy A. Vinal. 

Daniel U. Chamberlin is the president: Adolph Vogl, clerk and 
treasurer ; and Horace A. Allyn, superintendent. 

AMERICAN RUBBER CO. 

The American Rubber Co. was organized in 1872 under the laws 
of Massachusetts. A jobbing business was done until 1877, when 
the factory was built in Cambridge for the purpose of manufacturing 
boots, shoes, clothing, and wringer rolls. The plant was entirely de- 
stroyed by fire in December, 1881, but was at once rebuilt on a 
larger scale, and the capital increased from two hundred thousand to 
five hundred thousand dollars and later to one million dollars. 

In 1877 the amount of floor space in use was two acres, the number 
of employees one hundred, the pay-roll sixty thousand dollars, and the 
product valued at three hundred thousand dollars. At the present 
time the floor space covers seven and one fourth acres, the number of 
employees is fifteen hundred, the pay-roll nearly six hundred and thirty 
thousand dollars, and the value of the product three and one half 
million dollars per annum. 

Mr. R. D. Evans was the originator of the company, and he has 
remained at its head to the present time. Mr. Allen L. Comstock 
is superintendent. 

The capacity of the plant at the present time is twenty-five thousand 
pairs of boots and shoes and two thousand rubber coats and mackin- 
toshes per day. This company was among the first to make mack- 
intosh coats in the United States, beginning as an experiment and 
increasing their product slowly, until they now make nearly one thou- 
sand per day. The company have branch houses in New York, 
Chicago, St. Louis, and St. Paul, the product is sold over the country 
from Maine to California, and a large export trade is being developed. 
One million two hundred thousand pounds of crude rubber and cotton 
and woolen cloths and other materials to the value of one million dol- 
lars are used annually. 

The company state that among the advantages found from being 
located in Cambridge are excellent freight facilities, nearness to the 






2 


8 





2 


7 





2 








2 








3 








17 


4 



382 FINANCIAL AND MANUFACTURING. 

Boston market, and the ease with which they can find workmen when 
needed. 

A. H. HEWS & CO. 
own the oldest existing pottery in the United States, located in North 
Cambridge. The business was founded at Weston, in 1765, by the 
grandfather of the present senior member of the firm of A. H. Hews 
& Co. On the fly-leaf of the journal of the founder of the business is 
written " Abraham Hews's book, Weston." The first entry was made 
on the day of the battle of Lexington : — 

April 19, 1775. 

Lemuel Jones, to ware, Dr. ..... 

Isaac Flagg, to ware, Dr. ..... 

April 29, 177"). 

Isaac Jones, to ware. Dr. . . 

Nathan Darkhurs, to ware, Dr. .... 

June lit, L793. 

David Brackett, to my horse to Framing-ham, 12 miles, Dr. 

Thos. Rand to S thous d shingle nales, Dr. 
Octoher 2S, 1794. 

the Widow Ward, to Earthern ware, Dr. .... 
May. 1707. 

Esq' A. Ward, to 14 Days work Charles and oxen Braking up, Dr. 12 
Mch4, 1800. 

Dr. Amos Brancroft, to ware, Dr. . . . . .010 

the Widow Lucy Sanderson, to Hogg - , Dr. . . . 2 17 S 

For more than one hundred years the business remained in the same 
location, and passed through the hands of four generations. In 1870 
it was removed to Cambridge. The early records of the concern show 
that the principal articles of manufacture were beanpots, bread and 
milk pans, and teapots, and that the trade was mostly barter, exchange 
for groceries, New England rum, etc. 

Until the year 1864 or 1865, common flower-pots, the world over, 
were made by hand on the potter's wheel, which was propelled by hand 
or foot. In 1869 the concern manufactured seven hundred thousand 
flower-pots ; in 1894 seven million. In addition to this enormous 
number of flower-pots they turned out large quantities of jardinieres, 
cuspidors, and umbrella stands. 

During the busy season they employ one hundred and fifty hands, 
with a weekly pay-roll of one thousand dollars. The capital employed 
is from fifty to seventy-five thousand dollars. 

ALDEN SPEARE'S SONS & CO., 
manufacturers, importers, and exporters of oils, emery, starches, and 
mill and laundry supplies ; general headquarters. 369 Atlantic 
Avenue, Boston ; works at East Cambridge, Mass., Walpole, Mass., 





The Reversible Collar Company. 



EXPORTERS AND BOOK-BINDERS. 383 

and Fall River, Mass., — was established in 1851. The help employed 
numbers between four and five hundred people. 

The works at East Cambridge are the largest. Here every modern 
facility is employed to carry on their extensive oil trade. The works 
are reached from the Boston & Albany Railroad by a private spur track, 
known as the Rogers Street Siding. By the use of large pumps, tank- 
cars containing seven thousand gallons of oil can be emptied of their 
contents in half an hour, and seven cars can be pumped at one time. 
Similar facilities for the reception of imported oils are employed. A 
private wharf is located at Third Street, large enough for the biggest 
vessel. The oils are pumped into large tanks, of which there are 
twenty, with a capacity of over one hundred and fifty thousand gal- 
lons, the oil first passing through immense oil presses, rendering it free 
from all foreign substances. Many of the neighboring factories are 
supplied with oil through lines of connecting pipe. 

To carry on this business, over an acre of floor space, as well as 
acres of open yards, is required. Thirty teams and many tank wagons 
assist. Two one hundred horse-power boilers and seventy-five horse- 
power high-speed auxiliary engines, with electrical ajjparatus, furnish 
power and light. Private telephone lines connect the works with a 
"central" in the main office in Boston, whereby the different depart- 
ments can communicate with each other, or with the general public, if 
desired. 

The firm is now composed of Lewis R. Speare, Henry I. Hall, E. 
Ray Speare, and Alden Speare, special, ex-president of the Chamber 
of Commerce, and present president of the Boston Board of Trade. 

They have offices and agencies in nearly all the large cities in 
America, with a foreign representative. 

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE RIVERSIDE BINDERY, BLACKSTONE 

STREET. 

The name of " The Riverside Bindery " was first given to this estab- 
lishment by Mr. James Brown, the father of Mr. John Murray Brown, 
who is the only surviving member of the original firm of Messrs. Lit- 
tle, Brown & Co., the well-known law-book publishers of No. 254 
Washington Street, Boston. This business had its conception in the 
year 1852, in a small wooden structure situated on Remington Street, 
Cambridge, then owned by Mr. Little, the business being conducted by 
A. F. Lemon and Charles P. Clark, Esq. From Remington Street the 
business was removed to Blackstone Street, and was carried on in con- 
junction with a law-book business then being conducted under the 
management of Benjamin F. Nourse and John Remick, in the " old 
Almshouse," which was purchased by Mr. Little from the city of Cam- 
bridge. It stood on a part of the estate where now is the world-re- 



384 FINANCIAL AND MANUFACTURING. 

nowned establishment called The Riverside Press, owned and operated 
by Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. Messrs. Nourse & Remick were 
succeeded by Messrs. Lemon, Remick & Fields (the latter a brother 
of the Mr. James T. Fields of the famous publishing-house of Fields, 
Osgood & Co., Boston). These were in turn succeeded by A. F. Lemon 
and Messrs. Little, Brown & Co., as equal partners. Mr. Lemon's 
interests were eventually purchased by its present proprietors, Messrs. 
Little, Brown & Co. 

The Riverside Bindery was finally removed across the street to its 
present location. It is noted far and near for the excellency of its fine 
leather bindings. 

The writer of this article is indebted to Mr. John Bartlett, formerly a 
copartner of Messrs. Little, Brown & Co., and the author of " Bartlett's 
Familiar Quotations," and also to Mr. A. F. Lemon and Mr. C. F. 
Wilson, the present manager of the establishment. 

THE GEORGE G. PAGE BOX CO. 
The George G. Page Box Co. has grown with our city's progress 
until it is now the largest concern of the kind in the New England 
States. Mi\ George G. Page, whose name the company bears, and 
who was its founder, was born in Dorchester, N. H., in 1807. In 
1844 Mr. Page commenced the manufacture of boxes and packing- 
cases in Cambridgeport, his shop being on what is now Magazine 
Street, where all the work was done by hand. In 1845 he built a small 
factory and dwelling-house at the junction of Hampshire Street and 
Broadway, the site now occupied by the present corporation. In 1857 
the factory and dwelling-house were both totally destroyed by fire. Mr. 
Page rebuilt his factory upon a larger scale. Into his new building he 
put an engine of thirty horse-power and other new machinery. After a 
short time it was found that the business was increasing, and that 
more room and better facilities were required, and extensive additions 
were made. The manufacture of cigar-boxes became a prominent 
feature in the industry, and nearly one hundred people were given 
employment where only a few years before two or three were all that 
were required. Wood-working machinery had not at that time reached 
that high degree of perfection it has now, consequently more skilled 
labor was needed to do the same amount of work than is necessary in 
these days. Another disaster by fire came upon the industry in 1873. 
One evening a blaze started in the cellar of the factory, and in a short 
time both building and machinery were totally destroyed, together 
with two sheds full of lumber, a cargo of lumber that had only been 
landed a few days before, and their large lumber wharf, and a dry- 
house full of hard-pine boards. Notwithstanding this sudden and 
heavy loss, but a short time was required to place the concern again 



A BOX FACTORY. 385 

in working order. The old furniture manufactory of Batchelder, 
Moore & Co., of East Cambridge, was secured, and new machinery 
put in, and a room was hired in Leander Greely's building, where 
the cigar branch was carried on. Early in the spring of 1874 the 
present brick building, one hundred and thirty by fifty feet, three sto- 
ries high, was commenced, and in July of the same year it was ready 
for occupancy. At this time Mr. Wesley L. Page became a junior 
partner, and the firm name was George G. Page & Co. In 1880 fail- 
ing health compelled Mr. George G. Page to relinquish all active part 
in the business, and he retired, leaving its entire management to his 
two sons. In December, 1882, Mr. Ovando G. Page died, and the 
following March the present corporation was formed, under the style 
of the George G. Page Box Co. 

Its present officers are : Wesley L. Page, president ; Clarence M. 
Howlett, treasurer ; Dana P. Johnson, clerk ; who constitute the board 
of directors. 

On the 13th day of January, 1886, Mr. George G. Page died, but 
he lived to see the works which he founded on so small a scale become 
one of the largest of their line in New England. The present plant 
consists of a brick building known as Factory No. 1, one hundred and 
thirty by fifty feet, three stories high, and a Avooden building known 
as Factory No. 2, one hundred by fifty feet, of three stories. In the 
rear of Factory No. 1 is a storehouse, sixty feet square and two stories 
in height. Outside of the main building is a brick boiler and engine 
room, built in 1885. The buildings are thoroughly protected against 
accident by fire by steam-pipes, which run to every part of the build- 
ings, and in case of fire the opening of a valve in the engine-room will 
at once fill any or every room with raw steam. Automatic sprinklers 
are also run through every story. The various buildings and yards 
are lighted by incandescent lamps, the supply for which is taken from 
a plant of their own. On the first or ground floor of Factory No. 1 
are located the planers. Here the lumber is received just as it comes 
by vessel or car from the mills in the Maine forests. Formerly a load 
of boards required two or three handlings during its transportation 
from the car or vessel to the machinery, but now the truck or team 
upon which it is loaded backs up to the wide doorway, where it is slid 
on rollers directly to the machine. There are several of these planing- 
machines in constant operation, finishing thirty thousand feet per day. 
These machines plane two boards at once on both sides. After leaving 
the planing-machine the lumber goes to the cutting-off saws, where it 
is cut into the proper lengths for boxes. Other saws cut it into proper 
widths for sides, tops, bottoms, ends, or whatever it is intended to be 
used for. The pieces are fitted by means of a matching-machine, and 
then they are in shape to be put together into boxes of any size or 
shape desired, from the smallest up to a piano case. 



386 FINANCIAL AND MANUFACTURING. 

On the second floor is located the room where all the tools, saws, and 
cutters are kept in condition by an experienced man employed only 
for that purpose, the remainder of the floor being used by band-saws, 
locking-machines, combination cut-off saws, and other machinery used 
in the general manufacture. 

On the third floor are the machines where the small lock-corner 
boxes are made. From Factory No. 1 all the work goes to be fin- 
ished to Factory No. 2, which is in the rear but connected by a covered 
bridge. On the first floor of Factory No. 2 is situated the printing 
department, which has grown to be a very important branch of the 
box-making business, by which means pasting on of labels has been done 
away with. Several presses are kept here in constant operation, print- 
ing the ends and sides for the boxes in one or more colors. On the 
second floor is situated the superintendent's and shipping-clerk's office. 
Here, also, are located the various machines for finishing large lock- 
corner boxes, and several men are employed making up boxes that are 
too large to be nailed by machines. 

On the third floor of Factory No. 2 is found more of the lock- 
corner machinery, nailing-machines, etc., used in finishing all kinds of 
boxes. Here are in use five nailing-machines, which, with those in 
other departments, make twelve in all. and will drive nails from three- 
fourths inch up to three inches in length. In the several departments, 
five hundred thousand feet or more of lumber cut to size is constantly 
kept in stock ready to be put together. 

There is very little w r aste in an establishment of this kind. Sawdust 
and chips are sold, and the shavings are used for fuel. No coal is used 
in running the engine. The shavings are blown into the boiler-room 
to be used for fuel, and the surplus shavings are blown into the second 
story of the shaving building, from whence they are dropped through 
a spout into wagons and carted away. The chips are sold for kind- 
ling. The entire product of five mills located in Maine and Massa- 
chusetts is taken by this company, and, in addition thereto, part of the 
product of several others is required to supply their needs. Eight to 
nine million feet are used annually, and three or four million carried 
in stock. From four to five hundred cars a year are now unloaded 
in the yard of the Page Box Co. 

PARRY BROTHERS. 
Cambridge has achieved an enviable reputation for many thriving 
industries, and among the number that of manufacturing the best brick 
deserves a word of special mention. The business is all concentrated 
in one section, a part of Ward 5, North Cambridge. The various pits 
are located at the upper portion of the section named above, and the 
most extensive manufacturers are Parry Brothers, whose success and 
fame in this line are due to unceasing energy, push, and enterprise. 



THE MANUFACTURE OF BRICK. 387 

The firm originated in 1874, when the late C E. Parry, father of 
the Parry brothers, commenced the industry at the old New England 
Brick Co.'s plant at the foot of Raymond Street. Mr. Parry died in 
1878, and his sons, Messrs. John and William, continued the business 
under the firm name of Parry Brothers. In 1880 Mr. A. R. Smith 
was admitted into the partnership. He remained with the firm till 
1883, when he sold out his interest to the other partners, and in the 
spring of 1884 an entirely new firm was organized, consisting of Parry 
brothers alone — that is, of John E., William A., George A., and 
Richard H. Parry. That same winter the firm purchased the property 
and business of the Cambridge Brick Co., and transferred the same to 
the extensive new yards which they had built on Concord Avenue. 

It was at this date that the firm began to make its most rapid 
strides forward. Their first notable effort was the experiment of 
brick-making in winter, which was tried with successful results at their 
Concord Avenue yard. Up to this time there had not been a winter 
brick made in Massachusetts or New England. They erected the neces- 
sary big drier or oven, and at Christmas time in 1885 were turning 
out, without difficulty, and regardless of the weather, thousands of 
brick a day. This new method of brick-making is accomplished by 
artificially drying the brick in an oven by means of hot air instead of 
by exposure to the sun. Since it has been adopted and proved to be a 
success by Parry Brothers, several other manufacturers have followed 
suit. 

The process of brick-making at the Concord Avenue yard is an inter- 
esting sight. The clay, after being dug out of a large pit by a steam 
shovel, instead of by hand, as in former days, is thrown into a truck, 
which is hauled over a track by steam-power, the contents being 
dumped into the pugging-mills, and it is then forced into a revolving- 
screen, which separates the stones from the clay. The next step is 
putting it into the brick machine, where the clay is pressed into 
moulds, and comes out properly shaped at the rate of ninety bricks a 
minute. The bricks are then placed by hand upon other trucks, several 
rows deep, and rolled back upon a track into the huge drier, where 
they remain about twenty-four hours, under a temperature of from 
180 to 200 degrees Fahrenheit. When properly dried, the bricks are 
hauled over a track on the same trucks to the kilns, where they are 
taken off and piled up forty bricks high in arches containing twenty- 
nine thousand each. It takes from seven to ten days of constant burn- 
ing to give the required standard color and hardness. They are then 
ready for the mai'ket. 

It was in the winter of 1885 that the Concord Avenue yards were 
purchased ; since then the company has established a large plant in 
Belmont, just over the Cambi-idge fine. The Boston office of the firm 
is at No. 10 Broad Street. 



388 FINANCIAL AND MANUFACTURING. 

THE BAY STATE BRICK CO. 
was organized in 1863 with a capital of seventy-five thousand dollars, 
which has since been increased to three hundred thousand dollars. The 
company employs from three to four hundred men, and has an annual 
capacity of fifty to sixty million brick. The plant has the latest and 
most improved machinery for the prosecution of its work. The Bos- 
ton office of the company is in the Smith Building, 15 Court Street. 

D. WARREN DE ROSAY 
manufactures annually fifteen million brick. The business was founded 
in 1881. The capital invested is fifty thousand dollars, and some fifty 
men are employed. The company makes a specialty of common sewer 
and paving brick. The Boston office is at 17 Otis Street. 

Other plants in Cambridge are those of N. M. Cofran & Co., Concord 
Avenue ; Edward A. Foster, near Walden Street ; M. W. Sands, Wal- 
den Street. 

ALEXANDER McDONALD & SON. 

The first business of the kind in this city was established by Alex- 
ander McDonald in 1856, when he commenced cutting marble for 
monumental purposes. Since that time the business has steadily in- 
creased, changing somewhat to meet the demands when granite was 
introduced. 

Mr. McDonald invented the McDonald Stone-Cutting Machine, 
which is in successful operation in the largest granite works from 
Maine to California. He was the first to run a quarry entirely by 
steam-power without the use of horses or oxen. Granite for many 
fine buildings has been furnished by the firm. Among them are the 
Worcester Lunatic Asylum and the Durfee High School at Fall 
River, also memorial work of every description at other places. The 
Cambridge soldiers' monument, and the soldiers' monument for the na- 
tional government in Salisbury, N. C, erected in 1872, — the largest 
obelisk at that time ever manufactured in the United States, measuring 
four feet square and thirty-one feet in length, — were made here. In 
1887 Frank R. McDonald was taken into the firm, and since that time 
the business has been confined principally to fine monumental work 
from all kinds of marble and granite. 

It has been found more profitable to do the principal cutting and 
heavy work at the quarries, though at the Cambridge works from 
twenty to thirty men are constantly employed to do the carving and 
finishing. 

Some of the finest monuments, headstones, tablets, and carved work 
have been made here, and erected in Mount Auburn and other promi- 



WORKERS IN STONE AND METAL. 389 

nent cemeteries in the United States. The works are located opposite 
Mount Auburn Cemetery entrance. 

THE CONNECTICUT STEAM-STONE CO., 
incorporated April 3, 1893, with a paid-up capital of ten thousand dol- 
lars, is located on First Street, East Cambridge, and is a branch of 
the Connecticut Steam Brown-Stone Company of Portland, Conn., the 
largest stone-cutting and milling establishment in the country. E. Ir- 
ving Bell, of Portland, is president ; J. David Renton, treasurer ; and 
George Everett, general manager. Their business is that of treating 
building-stone. Since their location in Cambridge they have invested 
thirty thousand dollars in the plant for stone cutting and finishing, and 
have been awarded contracts for such buildings as the Salem and West 
Newton High Schools, Lowell Court-House and State Normal School. 
They employ from one hundred and twenty to one hundred and forty 
men. 

John J. Horgan, manufacturer of monuments, statuary, posts, curb- 
ing, etc., established May 7, 1866, and located 45 to 83 Main Street, 
Cambridgeport, gives employment to twenty men. He uses a large 
amount of Italian and domestic marble, and his work is sent all over 
the country. 

Among others engaged in stone working are : The Charles River 
Stone Co., Austin Ford & Son, R. J. Rutherford, Union Marble and 
Granite Works, A. Higgins & Co., and William A. Bertsch. 

DOVER STAMPING CO. 

The Dover Stamping Co. was founded in 1833 by Mr. Horace 
Whitney, of Dover, N. H. Quite early in life he conceived the idea 
of making tin covers by means of dies ; these articles at that time 
being raised up by hammering by hand, a very slow process. It was 
not until 1847 that he succeeded in doing such work. The business 
was carried along in a small way for a number of years, and finally 
it became necessary to establish an office in Boston, Mass., which was 
done in 1857, changing the firm name of Horace Whitney & Co. to 
the present name of Dover Stamping Co. The principal part of the 
business was the stamping of tin plates into tinware of all kinds. 

In 1865 it was found necessary to have the works nearer the sales- 
room in Boston, and a tract of land was bought in Cambridge, and 
extensive works erected. 

Mr. Whitney was one of the early pioneers in the business. The 
concern grew, and in 1871 it became a corporation, under the general 
laws of Massachusetts. Mr. Whitney was chosen its president, and con- 
tinued in office until his death, in 1883. The present management is 



390 FINANCIAL AND MANUFACTURING. 

wholly made up of employees who have passed more thau thirty years 
in its service. 

Edward H. Whitney, son of the original founder, is president, as 
well as mechanical superintendent of its factory in Cambridge. Jo- 
seph Moulton is business manager, and also secretary and clerk of the 
corporation, and Horace N. Loveland is treasurer. These three, with 
Messrs. Tbomas Fernald and A. O. Swain, make up the board of 

directors. 

THE SEAVEY MANUFACTURING CO., 

Third Street, corner of Potter, are engaged in a similar business. They 
own a large brick factory, and employ a considerable number of hands. 
Their Boston office is on North Street. 

WILLIAM L. LOCKHART & CO. 

William L. Lockhart & Co., manufacturers of and wholesale dealers 
in coffins, caskets, and undertakers' supplies, is the largest establish- 
ment of its kind in New England. The factory occupies the entire 
square on Bridge Street, between Third and Water streets. East Cam- 
bridge. The business was established on Bridge Street, near Prison 
Point Street, in 1854, by D. & W. L. Lockhart, and so continued 
until 1858, when W. L. Lockhart became sole partner. In 1860 the 
factory with its contents was entirely destroyed by fire. Mr. Lockhart 
immediately rebuilt on the present site. January 1, 1893, a copart- 
nership was formed with Charles H. Lockhart, Albert E. Lockhart, 
and George H. Howard, under the firm name of William L. Lockhart 
& Co. More than one hundred and twenty-five skilled operators are 
given steady employment, and a large business has been built up, 
extending throughout the United States, Canada, and portions of 
South America. 

The warerooms are situated in the business portion of Boston, and 
are readily accessible from all parts of the city. The building used is 
of brick and sandstone, six stories high, located at the junction of 
Merrimac and Causeway streets, and was erected by Mr. Lockhart for 
the express purpose for which it is used. The different floors of the 
building are divided as follows (each floor contains about five thousand 
square feet) : second floor, offices and salesroom, and casket hardware 
department ; third floor, show-rooms ; fourth floor, for packing and 
shipping ; fifth and sixth floors, storage. 

STANDARD TURNING WORKS. 

The Standard Turning Works is a corporation organized under the 

laws of Massachusetts, with a capital of twenty-five thousand dollars. 

It was organized as a corporation in 1882, the business having been 

established in 1862. The business is the only one of the kind within 



BOXES AND HA TS. 391 

many miles of Cambridge, and consists of making, by automatic and 
special machinery, handles of all kinds and special turnings of any 
description ; in fact, any article turned from wood or ivory. A large 
variety of woods, both native and foreign, is used, and the concern 
claims to keep in stock more kinds of wood than can be found else- 
where in America. 

Their extensive storehouses are filled with manufactured goods, and 
with material ready to be worked into any required shape. The busi- 
ness employs about twenty hands, and it is a matter of pride with the 
management that work is found for their employees every day in the 
year except legal holidays. The trade extends over the United States, 
with some export trade. 

The officers of the corporation are Walter Ela, president and treas- 
urer, and Richard Ela, manager. 

CHARLES PLACE. 

Charles Place, manufacturer of paper boxes, is located at 134 Nor- 
folk Street. Mr. Place began business in 1885, occupying a cellar 
kitchen on the corner of Broadway and Moore Street, and employing 
five girls in the manufacture of fancy boxes. The growth of the 
business soon compelled a change in quarters, and Mr. Place moved 
to Norfolk Street. In 1890 the building was enlarged to one hundred 
by fifty feet and five stories in height, and about one hundred and fifty 
hands were employed. In 1893 another addition was made, fifty by 
forty feet, and from the present outlook more room will soon be a 
necessity. Employment is given to fifty men and two hundred girls. 

The basement of the factory is used almost entirely for storage of 
stock ; the other floors are given up to the making of boxes, from the 
tiniest pill-box to the largest used in the clothing and fur trade. The 
number of boxes turned out averages seventeen thousand per day. 
Machines specially designed for the work are run by steam power. 

H. M. SAWYER & SON. 
This business was established in 1840 by Mr. B. D. Moody, and 
between that date and 1877 it was conducted by Pettingill & Blodgett, 
Pettingill, Moody & Blodgett, Pettingill, Moody & Sawyer, Pettingill 
& Sawyer, and finally, in August, 1877, the former partners having 
retired, Mr. H. M. Sawyer became the sole owner. In 1887 Mr. C. 
H. Sawyer being admitted, the firm was conducted under the name of 
H. M. Sawyer & Son, under which name it is now being run. At the 
time the business was established the product consisted largely of water- 
proofed hats, and it was not until some years later that waterproofed 
clothing was manufactured to any great extent. Of late years, how- 
ever, clothing has become the largest feature in the product, and the 
goods are now sold in almost every country in the world. 



392 FINANCIAL AND MANUFACTURING. 

HENRY THAYER & CO. 
In 1847 Henry Thayer was the proprietor of a retail apothecary 
store on Main Street, Camhridgeport. and hegan in a small way to 
manufacture fluid extracts. Beginning in a little room in the rear of 
his store, the business increased rapidly, and he soon had to seek larger 
quarters. A small two-story building was erected, but in a year or two 
this too proved insufficient, and they removed to the brick building on 
Main Street known as the Douglass Block. In the mean time John 
P. Putnam and Francis Hardy had become members of the firm. In 
1870 they erected the brick building on Broadway which they now oc- 
cupy as a laboratory. The building is four stories with a basement, 
sixty by eighty feet, with an annex sixty by forty feet. The firm is 
recognized as among the leading manufacturing chemists of the day, 
their goods being sent all over the world. 

GOEPPER BROTHERS. 

The steam barrel factory of William and Gustavus Goepper is lo- 
cated on the corner of Ninth and Spring streets, East Cambridge. The 
business was begun in Charlestown in 1871, and removed to Cambridge 
in 1872 and located on Gore Street. In 1880 the firm purchased their 
present location, which has a frontage of two hundred and ten feet on 
the Grand Junction Railroad, and which enables them to unload cooper- 
age stock direct from the cars to the dry-houses and storehouses. The 
capacity of the works is about thirty-five hundred new and fifteen 
hundred second-hand barrels per day. The capital engaged is thirty 
thousand dollars, and employment is given to forty men. The pay-roll 
is about twenty thousand dollars per annum. 

NEW ENGLAND SPRING-BED CO. 
This company began business in Boston in 1890. Soon after it 
removed to Camhridgeport, and it now occupies the brick factory on 
Osborn Street, corner of Main. It makes a specialty of spiral spring- 
beds and woven wire cots. It also imports brass and iron bedsteads. 
The latter are finished at the factory on Main Street, near the spring- 
bed factory, where it has a large oven for baking the enamel. The 
company has a well-equipped plant for the work required, and in the 
busy season employs about forty hands. The output is sold mainly 
in New England, although there is some export trade. Elmer H. 
Grey is president, and M. S. Fickett treasurer, of the company. The 
Boston office is 90 Canal Street. 



CANS, GLASS, HATS, AND BEDS. 393 

CHARLES E. PIERCE & CO., 
manufacturers of tin cans, 442 Main Street, began business in 1875, 
and at present employ about twenty hands. They make a specialty 
of cracker, varnish, and syrup cans, the work being done with dies and 
machinery. They are the patentees of the process of making solder- 
less square tin boxes for the use of biscuit and confectionery manufac- 
turers, also patentees of the key-opening screw can-top, used in all 
kinds of preserve cans. The concern uses mostly American tin plate, 
made in sizes to suit their work. The manufactured goods are sold 
all over New England, and shipped West as far as St. Paul. The 
partners are C. E. Pierce and Charles Waugh. 

P. J. McELROY & CO. 
Glass-making was one of the earliest of manufacturing industries 
in Cambridge ; in fact, the industry was once a prominent one in New 
England. Competition in the West and the ability to produce a 
cheaper glass has caused an almost entire removal of the industry to 
that section. P. J. McElroy & Co. are the only manufacturers of 
glass left in Cambridge. The business was established in 1853, and the 
product — glass tubes, philosophical and surgical instruments — is sold 
over the United States, with large exports to South America, Japan, 
and Australia. 

CARLOS L. PAGE & CO. 

Carlos L. Page & Co., located at Nos. 164 to 174 Broadway, Cam- 
bridgeport, have carried on the business of box-making for ten years. 
They occupy a four-story brick factory seventy-five by forty feet, which, 
with other buildings, covers an area of about forty thousand square feet. 
The factory is fully equipped with all modern machinery necessary 
to carry on a large business. The lumber used in the construction 
of boxes is brought from Maine and New Hampshire, and about 
four million feet is used annually. Employment is given to sixty 
men. 

DAVID WILCOX & CO. 

This business was established in Cambridgeport in 1860. The 
company manufactures fine-grade stiff, silk, and soft hats for the retail 
trade throughout the country. The capacity of the factory is from sixty 
to seventy dozen per day. One hundred and fifty hands are employed, 
and the weekly pay-roll is from fifteen hundred to two thousand dol- 
lars. The partners are David Wilcox, Elbert P. Wilcox, and F. K. 
Going. 

HOWE SPRING-BED CO. 

The manufacture of spring-beds was established in Cambridge in 



394 FINANCIAL AND MANUFACTURING. 

1854 by Tyler and Otis Howe, father and son. The elder Howe died 
in 1880, and the business was continued by his son until his death in 
1891. It was then purchased by Melvin M. Hannum, the present 
owner. Three floors of a brick building eighty feet by forty are occu- 
pied in the manufacture of spring-beds, cots, and berth bottoms. The 
product is sold over the United States, with some exports to England. 

REVERE SUGAR REFINERY. 
The Revere Sugar Refinery, situated between the Boston & Lowell 
Railroad and Miller's River, East Cambridge, began operations in 
1871. They occupy an extensive building of six stories, and employ 
directly about one hundred and thirty men, with an annual pay-roll of 
one hundred thousand dollars. They also furnish steady work to a 
considerable number of coopers and teamsters. The daily capacity of 
the works is about fourteen hundred barrels of refined sugar. 

JEROME MARBLE & CO. 
This company manufactures oils, starches, dye-stuffs and chemi- 
cals, and is located on Fifth Street, corner of Rogers, Cambridgeport. 
The firm is sole agent for the National Linseed Oil Company, and 
has Boston offices at 42 Pearl Street. 

A. & E. BURTON & CO. 
This business was established in 1844 by Harvey & Burton, and is 
located at Nos. 122 and 124 Harvard Street, Cambridgeport. They 
manufacture brushes and feather dusters to the value of two hundred 
thousand dollars annually, and employ from seventy-five to one hun- 
dred hands. 

JAMES A. FURFEY, 
manufacturer of cocoa mats and matting, is the successor of the busi- 
ness of James Furfey, which was established in 1848. Factory and 
office, Brookline and Erie streets, Cambridgeport. 

F. M. EATON, 
No. 351 Broadway, makes bristle brushes and corn brooms. 

JOHN C. DOW & CO. 
are manufacturers of fertilizers, and their factory is located on Port- 
land Street, East Cambridge. Boston office, 13 Chatham Street. 

C. W. H. MOULTON & CO., 
Gore Street, East Cambridge, claim the honor of being the oldest 
ladder manufactory in America. Their product is extension ladders, 
step ladders, trestles, clothes horses, lawn settees, splint and reed 
chairs. 



THE STREET RAILWAYS. 395 

THE W. F. WEBSTER CEMENT CO. 
has a factory on Albany Street, Cambridgeport, and there manufac- 
tures elastic cement. 

THE BARBER ASPHALT PAVING CO., 
makers of Trinidad Lake asphalt pavements, are located on First 
Street, near the West Boston Bridge. Mr. Charles Harris is manager. 

W. W. REID MANUFACTURING CO., 
436 Main Street, manufactures shoe blacking, liquid and paste belt 
dressing, and liquid and paste metal polish. 

BREED WEEDER CO., 
State Street, corner of Osborn, manufacture farming tools. William 
O. Breed is the manager of the business, and the Boston office is at 
26 Merchants' Row. 

CAMBRIDGE VINEGAR CO., 
manufacturers of vinegar, are located at 75 Main Street, Cambridge- 
port. 

DAVID W. DAVIS, 

manufacturer of bluing, is located on Clay Street. 

STREET RAILWAYS. 
The West Boston Bridge was opened in 1793, and soon afterwards 
a public conveyance was established, which made a trip once a day ; 
afterwards two trips were made daily, leaving Cambridge at eight 
o'clock A. M. and two o'clock p. m., returning at noon and six o'clock 
P. M. The Cambridge stage started from Boyden's, Dock Square. 

Previous to that date, from the time of the first settlement, access to 
Boston was difficult. There was a choice, it is true, of ferries, and 
one might cross the river at Charlestown, or at the foot of the present 
Boylston Street, whence the route lay through Roxbury and across the 
Neck, then only wide enough for the passage of Washington Street. 

In the early part of the century Reed & Soper kept a livery stable 
on Dunster Street and ran a line of three-seated stages to Boston, 
passing through Main Street and over the West Boston Bridge- 
In 1826 Captain Ebenezer Kimball, the then landlord of a tavern 
on Pearl Street, Cambridgeport, started the " hourly." Later, a man 
named Tarbox ran a two-horse stage line between Cambridge and 
Boston. Afterwards, Thomas Stearns, Tarbox, Dexter Pratt, and a 
man named Sargent put on a four-horse omnibus line. Stearns 
bought out his partners, and carried the business on for a long time. 
Mr. Stearns, who is now living on Farwell Place, Old Cambridge, 
says his tolls amounted to one thousand dollars per month. 



396 FINANCIAL AND MANUFACTURING. 

Abel Willard and Mark Bills also had stage lines, but they were 
afterwards consolidated with those of Stearns & Kimball, and ran 
until they sold out to the horse railroad. Before the consolidation of 
the rival stage lines, competition was so great that cabs were put on for 
the purpose of calling at private residences for passengers upon proper 
notice being given. 

The " Harvard Branch " had a brief existence. It was a spur from 
the Fitchburg Railroad to a point near the Common, between the Law 
School and the Gymnasium in Old Cambridge. Its officers were 
Gardiner G. Hubbard, president, and Dr. Estes Howe, treasurer, 
who, with James Dana, of Charlestown, Oliver Hastings, Joseph W. 
Ward, and William L. Whitney, of Cambridge, constituted the board 
of directors. 

The Cambridge Railroad was incorporated in 1853, and was leased 
soon afterwards to the Union Railway. The story of the beginnings 
of this road, by Mr. Frederick T. Stevens, for many years its treasurer, 
is of exceeding interest : — 

" The Union Railway Company was incorporated under the laws of 
this commonwealth and approved by the governor, Henry J. Gardner, 
May 15, 1855. The first meeting was held October 8 of the same 
year. 

" The principal instigator in this then great work was our well- 
known citizen, Gardiner G. Hubbard, to whom the city of Cambridge 
owes a debt of gratitude. He was the prime mover in almost every 
project at that time for the practical benefit of the city. He was 
aided by such men as the late Judge Willard Phillips, Herbert H. 
Stimpson, Charles C. Little, Estes Howe, and John Livermore. These 
men believed that the time would come when the pumps would get 
rusty and the wells go dry ; that whales would become scarce and 
candle dips would not afford the light needed ; and that omnibuses 
would not accommodate the requirements of the generations to come, 
and hence we have to-day, as the results of their foresight, the Cam- 
bridge Water-Works, the Gas Light Company, and the successor of 
the Union Railway Company, — the West End Company. Let no one 
suppose for one instant, however, that the originators of these works 
were any more philanthropic than some of the railway kings of the 
present day. 

" The first call for a meeting of the stockholders of the Union Rail- 
way Company was dated September 11, 1855, and signed by the late 
John C. Stiles as ' one of the persons named in the act of incorpora- 
tion.' The meeting was held at the office of Gardiner G. Hubbard, 
5 Congress Street, Boston, and was adjourned, for want of a quorum, 
to October 8, at the City Exchange Building. At that meeting the 



THE STREET RAILWAYS. 397 

act of incorporation was accepted. The meeting was called to order 
by Mr. Hubbard, who was chosen chairman, and the late Dr. Estes 
Howe was elected clerk pro tempore. The officers elected were : 
directors, H. H. Stimpson, Willard Phillips, Charles C. Little, and 
G. G. Hubbard ; Estes Howe was elected clerk and treasurer. Of 
these Mr. Hubbard is now the only living representative. Mr. Stimp- 
son was appointed a committee to procure subscriptions to the capital 
stock, and Messrs. Little, Hubbard, and Stimpson a committee to 
arrange the lease with the Cambridge Railroad Company, who were 
the owners of the corporate right to lay tracks in the streets. 

" At this time it was hard to find any one who would take stock 
in any such concern, and the Union Railway Company was incorpo- 
rated for the purpose of leasing any or all of the tracks of the Cam- 
bridge Railroad Company, or of any connecting tracks. Messrs. Hub- 
bard and Stimpson were a committee to confer with the Cambridge 
omnibus proprietors with reference to the purchase of their property. 
The committee on cars was Messrs. Hubbard, Stimpson, and William 
A. Saunders. Adjourned meetings of the company were held, at 
which no quorum was present. Finally, on the 19th, a meeting was 
held, and a code of by-laws adopted. When enough of these brave 
fellows could be brought together, which was seldom, they evidently 
made them attend to business, for at a protracted meeting on the 27th 
day of this same month, the long-mooted question of jirocuring cars 
was settled, and Mr. Hubbard was appointed a committee to procure 
five cars from Messrs. Eaton & Gilbert. These were the first pur- 
chased by any street railway company in the city of Boston. 

" Speaking of these cars recalls to my memory that the late Abel 
Willard, one of the proprietors of the omnibus line, once told me that 
he, with many others, rode into Boston (not in a car, however) to view 
the spectacle of one of these same cars coming down Cambridge Street 
hill. They did not believe that there was power enough in the brakes 
to hold the car, but that it would run upon and injure the horses, and 
finally land somewhere in the vicinity of Charles River. A great 
change came over the party when they saw how nicely everything 
operated, and ' Uncle Abel ' said that from that time he was satisfied 
that his omnibus line had got to go under. 

" Meetings of the directors at this time were very frequent, but no 
business of importance was transacted which wovdd interest the public 
at this day. The subject which seemed to interest the directors most 
was the question of purchasing two lots on Lambert [now Huron] Ave- 
nue ; another subject agitated at this time was the purchase of iron 
cars — ' electrics ' were not dreamed of in those days. The first pres- 
ident of the company, Mr. H. H. Stimpson, was elected December 6, 
1855, and at the same meeting an assessment of twenty-five per centum 



398 FINANCIAL AND MANUFACTURING. 

on the capital stock was laid, and the following vote was unanimously 
passed : ' That the president be authorized to contract with E. Tucker 
for twenty (20) harnesses, provided li£ will take one share of stock 
in part payment of the same.' Times have changed somewhat, and it 
is not quite so difficult to dispose of West End preferred. On the 19th 
of December, 1855, the following rates were established for the om- 
nibuses : to Mount Auburn, Old Cambridge, and Brattle Street, 15 
cents ; to Porter's Station, 10 cents ; to Cambridgeport, 8 cents ; 12 
tickets to Old Cambridge, $1 ; 15 tickets to Cambridgeport, $1 ; 13 
packages of $1 tickets for $12. 

" It was at this time that Dana Street was established as the divid- 
ing line between Cambridgeport and Old Cambridge, and that con- 
ductors were obliged to furnish bonds in the sum of five hundred 
dollars, with tw r o sureties, for the faithful performance of their duties. 

" The following action of the directors was highly appreciated by 
many of the passengers, and was the cause of great rejoicing among 
those w r ho derived a benefit from it, even if they did have to pay for 
it : ' That the one-horse hack be kept at the Port to call for and take 
passengers, and that ten (10) cents be charged for a single passage, 
and five cents each for two if deposited at the same point, and that a 
suitable vehicle be kept at Old Cambridge to run at the same rates. 
For all distances over half a mile from the respective offices double 
fares to be charged ; tickets to be issued for all the omnibuses and 
hacks.' 

" At this time the way-fare was established at five cents, and chil- 
dren between the ages of four and fourteen were charged the way- 
fare instead of the fares heretofore fixed upon for adult passengers. 
On the first day of March, 1856, the fares were reduced, being fixed 
at ten cents, and twelve tickets for one dollar, and to Old Cambridge, 
thirteen cents, and ten tickets for one dollar. 

" Now comes the question of the removal of snow from the street in 
Boston, — nothing being said about snow in the streets of this city. 
March 12, 1856, it was voted by the board of directors : ' That Mr. 
Hubbard be a committee with power to make arrangements with the 
city of Boston for the removal of the snow and ice from Cambridge 
Street, from the Revere House to the bridge, provided the same can 
be done at a cost of not over one hundred dollars to the company.' 
Comments upon the action of the company relative to the removal of 
snow at that time are unnecessary, but of one thing we are assured : 
there were no ' snow fights ; ' they knew their business and considered 
their money well invested. March 29, 1856, Mr. William A. Saunders 
was elected a director in place of Mr. John Livermore, who had 
declined a reelection. 

" Those who are interested in the subject of ' dead-head passes ' may 



THE CHARLES RIVER RAILROAD. 399 

like to know that even as far back as 1856 passes were given, and 
undoubtedly ' for a consideration.' The first car was run March 26, 
1856, and three days after the board voted : ' That tickets be given to 
Brattle House, Revere House, and to the " Cambridge Chronicle." ' At 
this time the Brattle House was, I think, under the charge of Landlord 
Willard, and the ' Chronicle ' was the only paper published in this 
city." 

Many complaints were made by the people of Cambridge that the 
accommodations furnished by the Cambridge Railway were insufficient ; 
this culminated in the incorporation of the Charles River Railroad in 
1881. Tracks were laid by this company from Harvard Square through 
Brighton (now Boylston), Mount Auburn streets, Putnam Avenue, and 
Green Street to Central Square, Main, Columbia, and Hampshire 
streets to the junction of the tracks of the Cambridge Railway on 
Broadway, the latter company having refused them the right to make 
connection on Main Street. The Charles River Company laid tracks 
also from Porter's Station to Hampshire Street, and from Union 
Square, Somerville, through Springfield Street, connecting with Hamp- 
shire Street tracks at Inman Street ; they also built tracks through 
Brookline Street. The first board of directors was composed of C. 
E. Raymond, Emmons Raymond, Daniel U. Chamberlin, Henry 0.. 
Houghton, Fred S. Davis, Henry F. Woods, of Somerville, Samuel 
L. Montague, James H. Hilton, and Edmund Reardon. Charles E. 
Raymond was president, and Daniel U. Chamberlin treasurer. 

The Cambridge and Charles River roads became a part of the West 
End system in 1887. 

The West End now controls practically all the street-car lines cen- 
tring in Boston ; it has adopted the overhead electric system, and is 
furnishing service and equipment unsurpassed by any street railway in 
America. 



•400 



FINANCIAL AND MANUFACTURING. 



To illustrate the extent of the travel between Boston and Cambridge, 
William J. Marvin, Bridge Commissioner, lias prepared the following 
table : — 

Traffic over West Boston, Craigie, Prison Point, and Harvard 
bridges. April 18, 1896, between the hours of 6 A. 31. and 7 P. M. 





Teams. 


Horses. 


People. 


Bicycles. 


Cars. 


Passengers. 


West Boston Bridge . . 
Craigie Bridge . ... 
Prison Point Bridge 
Harvard Bridge .... 


4,035 
7,284 
1,975 

3,801 


5,466 

10,926 

2,916 

4,851 


9,902 

14,913 

3,962 

7,998 

36,775 


246 

202 

95 

3,352 


1,046 

563 

478 


20,231 

12,695 

13,750 


Total 


17,095 


24,159 


3,895 


2,087 


46,676 



The writer wishes to express his regret that this exhibit of 
the financial and industrial institutions of Cambridge is not en- 
tirely complete. Opportunity was given to every manufacturer 
to make a presentation of his share in the general work of the 
community, and there has been no omission except when that 
opportunity has been neglected. Sufficient information has, 
however, been offered to surprise all who have not kept pace 
with the rapid advance of the city in these respects, and far 
more than enough to make good the assertion that, as a manu- 
facturing centre, Cambridge stands foremost, and has before it 
a future which must fulfill the most brilliant expectations. The 
survey, brief as it necessarily is, shows that many sites are left 
on which great industrial establishments can be planted, amid 
surroundings which must prove satisfactory to the capitalist as 
well as a blessing to the employee. 



GOVERNMENT OF THE CITY OF CAMBRIDGE, 

1896. 



MAYOR. 
Hon. William A. Bancroft. 



BOARD OF ALDERMEN. 

President, John R. Fairbairn. 

Russell Bradford. Peter P. Bleiler. 

Marshall N. Stearns. Clarence H. Douglass. 

Henry White. Charles P. Keith. 

Charles M. Conant. Watson G. Cutter. 

Peter F. Rourke. James A. Wood. 

Clerk, Edward J. Brandon. 



COMMON COUNCIL. 
President, John L. Odiorne. 

Ward One. 
Melville C. Beedle. George E. Saunders. 

William F. Brooks. Walter C. Wardwell. 

Ward Two. 
Sedley Chaplin. Charles H. Montague. 

William R. Davis. Clement G. Morgan. 

John L. Odiorne. 

Ward Three. 
John J. Ahern. John J. Scott. 

Cornelius Minihan. Frank H. Willard. 

Ward Four. 
David W. Butterfield. Eben H. Googins. 

Daniel S. Coolldge. Hamilton H. Perkins. 

Origen O. Preble. 

Ward Five. 
Albert S. Apsey. Robert A. Parry. 

Clerk. Page. 

Edward A. Counihan. Charles M. Jqnes. 



402 GOVERNMENT OF THE CITY. 

CITY CLERK. 
Edward J. Brandon. 

ASSISTANT CITY CLERK. CITY MESSENGER. 

Albert M. Pear. Francis L. Pratt. 



CLERK OF COMMITTEES. 
John McDuffie. 



CITY AUDITOR. 
Harry T. Upha.m. 

CITY TREASURER. 

William W. Dallinger. 



BOARD OF HEALTH. 

E. Edwin Spencer, M. D., Chairman. 

Charles Harris. Edmund M. Parker. 

City Physician, E. Edwin Spencer. M. D. 

Clerk, James B. Soper. 

Health Officer, Edwin Farnham, M. D. 



ASSESSORS. 
Joshua G. Gooch. Samuel L. Montague. 

Andrew J. Green. 

ASSISTANT ASSESSORS. 
Warren Ivers. Daniel B. Shaughnessy. 

John M. Davis. Arthur M. Stewart. 

Edwin K. Hall. 



SCHOOL COMMITTEE. 
William A. Bancroft. Mayor, ex officio Chairman. 

Ward One. 
Frank W. Taussig. William T. Piper. 

Elizabeth Q. Bolles. 

Ward Two. 
Robert O. Fuller. Caroline L. Edgerly. 

Alphonso E. White. 

Ward Three. 
Edward B. Malley. William H. Clancy 

Anne Clark Stewart. 

Ward Four. 
Mary E. Mitchell. Charles F. Wyman. 

William A. MuNROE. 



GOVERNMENT OF THE CITY. 403 

Ward Five. 
George P. Johnson. Carolyn P. Chase. 

Frederic W. Taylor. 

Secretary, Sanford B. Hubbard. 

Superintendent of Schools, Francis Cogswell. 



COMMISSIONERS OF THE SINKING FUNDS. 
Charles H. Saunders, Chairman. 
John C. Bullard. Andrew J. Lovell. 

George H. Howard. J. Henry Russell. 

Frank A. Allen. 



CAMBRIDGE WATER BOARD. 
James M. W. Hall, President. 
Stillman F. Kelley. Frank A. Allen. 

Wellington Fillmore. George H. Howard. 

Clerk of the Board, Walter H. Harding. 

Acting Superintendent of Water-Works, Edwin C. Brooks. 

Assistant Superintendent of Water-Works, Charles B. Parker. 

Pumping Engineer, Edwin C. Brooks. 

Water Registrar, Walter H. Harding. 



PARK COMMISSIONERS. 
Henry D. Yerxa, President. 
Rev. John O'Brien. George Howland Cox. 

General Superintendent of Parks, George R. Cook. 



TRUSTEES OF CAMBRIDGE PUBLIC LIBRARY. 
William Taggard Piper, President. 
Augustine J. Daly. Samuel L. Montague. 

William J. Rolfe. Albert M. Barnes. 

Thomas W. Higginson. Jabez Fox. 

Librarian, W. L. R. Gifford. 



OVERSEERS OF THE POOR. 

William W. Burrage, Chairman. 

Charles Walker. Alexander Millan. 

Stephen Anderson. Charles Bullock. 

Secretary, David P. Muzzey. 

Visitor, Vespasian Danforth. 

Superintendent of Almshouse, Martin L. Eldridge. 

Assistant City Physician, Lewis L. Bryant, M. D. 



404 GOVERNMENT OF THE CITY. 

CEMETERY COMMISSIONERS. 

George S. Saunders, Chairman. 

William A. Bertsch. Nathan C. Lombard. 

Charles 0. Welch. John H. H. McNamee. 

Herbert A. Chase. 

Clerk of the Board, Edward J. Brandon. 

Superintendent of Cemetery, Charles S. Childs. 



REGISTRARS OF VOTERS. 

Isaac Bradford, Chairman. 

William J. Breen. Isaac S. Pear. 

James Cox. 



CITY SOLICITOR. 
Gilbert A. A. Pevey. 



CITY ENGINEER. 
Lewis M. Hastings. 

SUPERINTENDENT OF SEWERS. 
Theodore L. Plke. 



INSPECTOR OF WIRES AND SUPERINTENDENT OF LAMPS. 
Charles F. Hopewell. 



HARBOR MASTER. 
William J. Marvin. 



SUPERINTENDENT OF STREETS. 
Charles A. Brown. 



SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND INSPECTOR OF 

BUILDINGS. 

William H. Gray. 



BOARD OF ENGINEERS OF FIRE DEPARTMENT. 

Chief Engineer. 
Thomas J. Casey. 

Call District Chiefs. 

Nathaniel W. Bunker. Charles W. Brackett. 

William B. Cade. 



GOVERNMENT OF THE CITY. 405 

POLICE DEPARTMENT. 

Chief of Police. 

LOTHROP J. CXOYES. 

Captains of Police. 
Mark J. Folsom. John F. Murray. Thomas H. Lucy. 



INSPECTOR OF MILK. 
Frank A. Dunbar, M. D. 



SEALER OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. 
Albert F. Roberts. 



THE CELEBRATION OF THE COMPLETION OF 
THE HALF-CENTURY. 



GENERAL COMMITTEE. 

The Mayor, the Board of Aldermen, the Common Council, and the follow- 
ing Citizens : — 



Mr. Henry O. Houghton, 
Hon. John Read, 
Hon. Charles H. Saunders, 
Mr. Mason G. Parker, 
Hon. Leander M. Hannum, 
Mr. John H. Ponce, 
Mr. Edmund Reardon, 
Mr. John Hopewell, Jr., 
Mr. Theodore H. Raymond, 
Mr. Henry D. Yerxa, 
Dr. Charles Bullock, 
Mr. Otis S. Brown, 
Rev. David N. Beach, 
Mr. George Howland Cox, 
Col. Thomas W. Higginson, 
Hon. William B. Durant, 
Hon. William E. Russell, 
Mr. Edwin B. Hale, 
Mr. Edward B. James, 
Gen. Edgar R. Champlin, 
Rev. George W. Bicknell, 
Hon. John W. Coveney, 
Mr. Benjamin G. Hazel, 
Rev. Thomas Scully, 
Mr. William E. Thomas, 
Mr. Walter H. Lerned, 



Mr. John H. Corcoran, 
Mr. George Close, 
Rev. John O'Brien, 
Mr. William Goepper, 
Mr. Joseph J. Kelley, 
Mr. John S. Clary, 
Mr. Justin Winsor, 
Mr. George H. Howard, 
Mr. James S. Price, 
Mr. John T. Shea, 
Mr. Charles W. Dailey, 
Mr. James F. Aylward, 
Mr. Joseph P. Gibson, 
Mr. William A. Munroe, 
Mr. Warren F. Spalding, 
Mr. Isaac S. Pear, 
Dr. James A. Dow, 
Mr. John D. Billings, 
Mr. Charles W. Cheney, 
Hon. Chester W. Kingsley, 
Mr. Stillman F. Kelley, 
Mr. David T. Dickinson, 
Mr. Thomas F. Dolan, 
Mr. John E. Parry, 
Mr. George A. Allison, 
Mr. John C. Watson. 



Chairman, Hon. William A. Bancroft 
urer, President John L. Odiorne. 



Secretary, Eben W. Pike ; Treas- 



CHIEF MARSHAL. 
Hon. John Read. 



EXECUTIVE COMMITTEES. 

FINANCE. 

President John R. Fairhairn, chairman ; President John L. Odiorne, 
clerk ; William E. Thomas, assistant clerk ; Messrs. Stillman F. Kelley, 
Henry O. Houghton, John H. Ponce, and John Hopewell, Jr. 



THE ANNIVERSARY COMMITTEES. 407 



SCHOOLS. 

Alderman James A. Wood, chairman ; Councilman George E. Saunders, 
clerk ; Councilman Daniel S. Coolidge, Messrs. William A. Munroe, 
Thomas W. Higginson, Rev. Thomas Scully, Joseph J. Kelley, Charles 
Bullock, and John C. Watson. 

PUBLIC MEETING. 

Mr. George A. Allison, chairman ; Councilman Albert S. Apsey, clerk ; 
Alderman Henry White, Councilman John J. Scott, Messrs. Edwin B. Hale, 
Edgar R. Champlin, James F. Aylward, and Theodore H. Raymond. 

ENTERTAINMENT. 

Alderman Watson G. Cutter, chairman ; Councilman Charles H. Mon- 
tague, clerk ; Alderman Charles P. Keith, Councilmen Robert A. Parry, 
Cornelius Minihan, and Hamilton H. Perkins, Rev. David N. Beach, Messrs. 
M. G. Parker, William Goepper, Joseph P. Gibson, Thomas F. Dolan, John 
D. Billings, and John H. Ponce. 

DECORATIONS AND ILLUMINATION. 

Alderman Charles P. Keith, chairman ; Councilman William F. Brooks, 
clerk ; Councilman David W. Butterfield, Messrs. Charles H. Saunders, 
John H. Corcoran, Charles W. Dailey, Warren F. Spalding, and John E. 
Parry. 

TREE. 

Hon. Chester W. Kingsley, chairman ; Councilman John J. Ahem, clerk ; 
Alderman Clarence H. Douglass, Councilman Sedley Chaplin, Messrs. 
Thomas W. Higginson, Rev. George W. Bicknell, Rev. John O'Brien, and 
Isaac S. Pear. 

FIREWORKS. 

Alderman Charles M. Conant, chairman ; Councilman Clement G. Mor- 
gan, clerk ; Councilman William R. Davis, Messrs. John Read, Edward B. 
James, Benjamin G. Hazel, James M. Price, Dr. James A. Dow, and David 
T. Dickinson. 

RECEPTION. 

President John R. Fairbairn, chairman ; Mr. James F. Aylward, clerk ; 
President John L. Odiorne, Messrs. Charles H. Saunders, William E. 
Russell, Edgar R. Champlin, George Close, Joseph J. Kelley, Edmund 
Reardon, George A. Allison, Henry D. Yerxa, John Hopewell, Jr., and 
James J/Myers. 

SALUTE. 

Alderman Peter F. Rourke, chairman ; Councilman Eben H. Googins, 
clerk ; Councilman Melville C. Beedle, Messrs. John Read, Edward B. 
James, John W. Coveney, John T. Shea, Charles W. Cheney, and David 
T. Dickinson. 

PROCESSION. 

Alderman Peter P. Bleiler, chairman ; Councilman Walter C. Wardwell, 
clerk ; Alderman Marshall N. Stearns, Councilmen William R. Davis, 



408 THE ANNIVERSARY COMMITTEES. 

Frank H. Willarcl, and Origen O. Preble, Messrs. Otis S. Brown, John Read, 
William B. Durant, Rev. David N. Beach, George Close, Leander M. Han- 
nnm, George II. Howard, John S. Clary, John D. Billings, Edmund Reardon, 
and Walter H. Lerned. 

INCIDENTALS. 

Mr. Henry O. Houghton, chairman ; Councilman George E. Saunders, 
clerk ; Alderman Watson G. Cutter, Councilman Robert A. Parry, Messrs. 
Stillman F. Kelley, and Henry D. Yerxa. 

BANQUET. 

Alderman Henry White, chairman ; Councilman Walter C. Ward well, 
clerk ; Councilman Albert S. Apsey, Messrs. William B. Durant, Charles 
H. Saunders, George H. Howard, Isaac S. Pear, and Otis S. Brown. 

The Mayor and Mr. H. O. Houghton, chairman of the citizens' com- 
mittee, are members ex officio of all executive committees. 



GENERAL INDEX. 



Abbot, Ezra, 68. 

Agassiz, Louis, excites the spirit of re- 
search, 74 ; his school for young ladies, 
74, 209-211 ; his personality, 74. 

Agassiz, Mrs. Louis, plans her husband's 
school, 200; president of Radcliffe 
College, 180. 

Aldermen, 401. 

Allston, Washington, 41. 

Allston Street, fort at foot of, 27. 

Almshouses, 17, 32, 276. 

American Lodge, K. of P., 292. 

Amicable Lodge of Masons, 280-283. 

Amity Rebekah Lodge, 286. 

And over, college library and apparatus 
moved to, 26. 

Anniversary committees, 406-408. 

Appleton, Rev. Nathaniel, 236 ; the Rev- 
olution the great event in his ministry, 
237 ; church lands sold in his time, 
237 ; gifts to, 237 ; salary, 237. 

Arlington, 9. 

Assessors, 402. 

Assets and liabilities, comparative state- 
ment of, 319. 

Assistants, Council of, 5, 23. 

Associated Charities, its beginning, 259 
its aim, 259 ; organization, 259 ; regis 
trar appointed, 259 ; visiting, 259 
conferences, 259 ; the society incorpo 
rated, 260 ; officers and agents, 260 
central office, 260 ; woodyard, 260 ; a 
-work test, 260 ; cooperation needed, 
261 ; expenses, 261. 

Astronomy and astronomers, 75, 76. 

Athenseum, the Cambridge, 228. 

AthenEeum Press, The, 337-339. 

Auditor, City, 402. 

Avon Home, opened on Avon Place, 262 ; 
original board of trustees, 262 ; name, 
262 ; endowment, 262 ; call for contri- 
butions, 262 ; the house enlarged, 262 ; 
beginning of the permanent fund, 263 ; 
new building erected on Mt. Auburn 
Street, 263 ; the founder's gift of a 
farm, 263 ; cost of maintenance, 263 ; 
income, 263 ; inmates, 263 ; matron, 
264 ; number cared for, 264 ; its in- 
fluence, 264. 



Banks : Cambridgeport National, 302 ; 
Lechmere, 303 ; National City, 303 ; 
Charles River National, 304 ; First 
National, 305 ; Cambridge National, 
307; Cambridge Safe Deposit and 
Trust Co., 307 ; Cambridge Savings, 
309 ; Cambridgeport Savings, 31 1 ; 
North Avenue Savings, 311 ; East 
Cambridge Savings, 312. 

Baptist churches, 240. 

Bears in Cambridge, 9. 

Beginnings of Cambridge, The, 1-13. 

Belcher, Andrew, the first innkeeper, 11. 

Belcher, Jonathan, royal governor, 11. 

Berkeley Street School, 212. 

Bigelow, Dr. Jacob, 73. 

Blue Anchor Tavern, 11. 

Borland House, 28. 

Boston, preeminence of, 1 ; not intended 
for seat of government, 1 ; assembling 
of General Court at, 2 ; means of com- 
municating with, 4 ; troops stationed 
in, 20 ; granted authority to improve 
the river bank, 106 ; its city council 
opposes the construction of Harvard 
Bridge, 107 ; completes the Charles- 
bank, 107 ; no provision for girls in its 
early schools, ISO ; high school opened 
for girls in, 192. 

Boston Massacre, 20. 

Boston Porcelain and Glass Company, 
30. 

Boston Port Bill, 22. 

Boston Tea-party, 22. 

Bounties for wolves, 9. 

" Bower of Bliss, The," 37. 

Bowers, Benanuel, declares himself a 
Baptist, 12 ; fined and imprisoned for 
entertaining Quakers, 12 ; turns 
Quaker, 12 ; sends verses to Thomas 
Danforth, 12 ; harangues the people 
in the meeting-house, 13. 

Bradstreet, Mrs., the ponderous verses 
of, 2. 

Bradstreet, Simon, site of his house, 2. 

Braintree Street, 3, 6 ; name changed to 
Harvard, 8. 

Brattle, General, notifies Gage of re- 
moval of powder from Charlestown, 



410 



GENERAL INDEX. 



23 ; apologizes to the Cambridge peo- 
ple, 24. 

Brattle, Rev. William, 230 ; his salary, 
237 ; donations to, -'■'>!. 

Brattle Street (the Water-town highway), 
8, 28 ; Tory How on, 28. 

Brick-making, 387. 

Bridge, John, statue of, 51, 234 ; its dedi- 
cation. ■"> I . 

Bridge, Samuel J., presents statue of 
John Bridge to the city, 51. 

Bridges : Great Bridge, 4 : West Boston, 
4. 29, 110, 395 ; Harvard, 4, 106, 108 ; 
Craigie, 20, 30; Prison Point, 29; 
River Street,29 ; Western Avenue. 29. 

Bridges, streets tributary to, 2!*. 

Brighton (Third Parish, Little Cam- 
bridge), 9, 16, 236 ; annexed to Bos- 
ton, 9. See Third Parish. 

Broad Canal, 30, 31, 109, 110, 127. 

Broadway (Clark Road), 37. 

Broadway Common, 121, 13S. 

Brooks, Phillips, 163, 255. 

Browne and Nichols school for boys, 
212-214. 

Bryce, James, on American municipal 
government. 59. 

Buckingham, Joseph Tinker, 219. 

Buckley, Daniel A., founder of the 
Cambridge News, 222. 

Bunker Hill, the march to, 49. 

Burial-places, 5, 16 ; " without the com- 
mon pales," 133 ; discontinuance, 133 ; 
the new ground inclosed, 133 ; graves 
of eminent persons, 133 ; tombs and 
monuments, 133-136 ; the milestone, 
133 ; monument to the minute-men, 
134 ; Dr. McKenzie's address at its 
consecration, 134 ; inscriptions, 135, 
136 ; its renovation, 137 ; the Broad- 
way ground opened, 137 ; disuse, 138 ; 
converted into a park, 138. See Cam- 
bridge Cemetery, God's Acre, and 
Mount Auburn. 

Burial-Places in Cambridge, 133-141. 

Burgoyne, General, quartered in the 
Borland House, 28. 

Cambridge (see New Town), water front 
of, 4, 30; name given to the New 
Town, 8 ; grants of territory to, 8 ; 
its enormous dimensions, 8 ; curtail- 
ments, 8, 9, 14 ; annexes portion of 
Watertown, 9, 15 ; acquisitions from 
Charlestown, 9, 15 ; lands bought from 
Indians, 10; meeting of synod at, 10; 
population, 10, 17, 29, 59, 206, 319; 
political activity in, 1S-25 ; con- 
demns sacking of Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor Hutchinson's house, 19 ; sends 
delegates to convention of towns, 20 ; 
General Court adjourned to, 20 ; sym- 
pathizes with Boston, 21 ; opposes 
collection of duty on tea, 21, 22 ; its 



representatives act as delegates to 
Provincial Congress, 24, 25 ; meetings 
of Provincial Congress at, 25 ; occu- 
pied by the American army, 26 ; its 
part at Lexington and Concord, 26 ; 
and Bunker Hill, 26 ; forts and breast- 
works, 27 ; its citizens favor independ- 
ence, 27 ; rejects a constitution 
framed by the General Court, 27 ; con- 
stitutional convention meets in, 2S ; 
approves the Declaration of Rights, 
28 ; ratifies the constitution, 28 ; Bur- 
goyne's troops quartered in, 28; the 
village in 1780, 2!) ; a port of delivery, 
30; business depression caused by 
the embargo, •">•'! ; petitions the Presi- 
dent, 33 ; schools in, 33 ; effect of 
War of 1812, 33; religious societies 
in, '■>■); an element of misrule, 38; 
social distinctions, 40 ; its three memo- 
rable days, 53 ; a change in the form 
of its government necessary, 55 ; its 
three centres, 55 ; attempts to divide 
the town, 55 ; " a more perfect union " 
determined on, 55 ; acceptance of the 
charter, 55 ; communication between 
the three villages, 55 ; the sectional 
idea, 55, 56 : its condition in 1840, 50, 
57 ; police department organized, 56 ; 
end of volunteer fire companies, 50; 
a sewer system established, 57 ; early 
expenses, 57 ; expenses in 1895, 58, • 
50; its finances in 1895, 59; answer 
to Mr. Bryce's tests, 59 ; development 
of the spirit of municipal unity, 60 ; 
bad roads kept the villages apart, 60 ; 
isolation considered necessary by the 
Old Villagers. 60 ; " one great aca- 
demic grove," (50 ; obliteration of sec- 
tional lines, 60, 61; water-supply 
system and park system unifying 
agencies. 01 ; its servants. 02 ; mayors, 
63 ; its attraction for literary men, 07 ; 
its first man of science, 72 ; its reputa- 
tion in the scientific world, 77 ; its non- 
partisan government. 78, "'■•: its pay- 
as-you-go policy, 70 ; free from jobs. 
70 ; retention of city officials in office, 
SO ; machinery of government, 80, 81 ; 
the Rindge gifts to, 82-86 ; its heri- 
tage, 89, 208; water-works, 113-118; 
park svstem, 110-125; made a port 
of delivery, 126 ; stimulus to real- 
estate interests by the act, 126 ; in- 
crease in valuation, 126 ; freight 
faeilities, 127; improvement in mer- 
cantile buildings, 128 ; high buildings, 
129; evidences of thrift in, 130; in- 
ducements to the stranger, 130 ; den- 
sity of population, 131 ; healthfulness, 
132; burial-places, 133-141; relations 
of the university to, 142-149; the 
centre of growth in municipal health. 
L64; its public schools, 187-207; his- 



GENERAL INDEX. 



411 



toric and literary associations, 208 ; 
newspapers in, 218-223 ; churches in, 
233-253; charities of, 259-261, 276; 
a manufacturing' centre, 313 ; favora- 
ble conditions for manufacturing, 313 ; 
its transportation facilities, 313 ; the 
manufacturing' district, 314 ; its near- 
ness to the labor-market, 315 ; its fire 
department, 316 ; its police force, 316 ; 
its water supply, 316 ; valuation, 319 ; 
comparative statement of income and 
expenditures, 319 ; manufacturing sta- 
tistics, 322-331; government, 401- 
405 ; semi-centennial, list of commit- 
tees, 406-408. 

Cambridge Bank, 301-303. 

Cambridge Cemetery, laid out, 137 ; con- 
secration, 137 ; Dr. Albro's address, 
137 ; extent and additions, 138 ; its 
care, 138 ; chapel, 138 ; soldiers' lot, 
138 ; interments, 139 ; gateway, 139. 

Cambridge Club, 295. 

Cambridge Commandery of Knights 
Templar, 284. 

Cambridge Common, 47-52. See Com- 
mon. 

Cambridge Farms (Lexington), 9, 236. 

Cambridge Field, 122, 123. 

" Cambridge Idea, The," 87-100 ; who 
first used the phrase, 87 ; its forceful- 
ness, 87 ; in everybody's mouth, 87 ; 
its indefinableness, 88 ; a symposium 
to define it, 88 ; not an idea, but an 
ideal, 88 ; a large symbol of thought, 
8S ; Cambridge's heritage, 89, 90 ; 
the power of the rum traffic, 91 ; 
licensed saloons, 91 ; a religious cam- 
paign, 91 ; " Frozen Truth," 91 ; over- 
throw of the saloon, 91 ; a Law 
Enforcement Association organized, 
92 ; threats of the saloon-keepers, 92 ; 
the next election, 92 ; the saloon 
beaten, 92 ; Cambridge in the fore- 
front, 92; her methods studied, 93; 
her influence, 93 ; the climax, 93 ; the 
literature of the idea, 94 ; vote on 
the license question, 94 ; result of the 
exclusion of the saloon, 94, 95 ; no 
liquor licenses signed in the new city 
hall, 95 ; lines of division wiped out, 
95 ; the highest result of all, 96 ; the 
methods, 97 ; relation to the larger 
life of Cambridge, 97, 98 ; a language 
and a watchword, 98, 99 ; the task of 
the future, 99. 

Cambridge Improvement Company, 109. 

Cambridge Journalism, 218-223. 

Cambridge Light Infantry in War of 
1812, 33. 

Cambridge Littoral,The, 101-112 ; Blax- 
ton's outlook, 101 ; the first bridge 
across the Charles, 101 ; the first 
bridge to Boston, 102 ; the marshes 
of the Charles, 102 ; the work of 



pushing back the sea, 102 ; the canals, 
103 ; effect of the railroad across the 
eastern marshes, 103 ; expansion of 
Boston, 104; outcome of the work at 
Boston, 104 ; first step in the improve- 
ment of the Cambridge shore, 105 ; 
extent of the submerged territory, 
105 ; scheme of development, 106 ; 
Charles River Embankment Com- 
pany, 106, 107 ; location of the bridge, 
106 ; first section of retaining-wall 
built, 106 ; obstruction in Boston, 107 ; 
enforcing act passed, 107 ; the Har- 
vard Bridge, 106, 108 ; the Park Com- 
mission created, 108 ; waste areas 
north of Main Street, 108 ; the last of 
the canals, 10S, 109 ; the Binney fields, 
109 ; Cambridge Wharf Company, 
109 ; opening of First Street, 110 ; 
Broad Canal bridged, 110; impor- 
tance of First Street, 110; a large 
summing up, 111. 

Cambridge Lodge of Odd Fellows, 2S6. 

Cambridge Mutual Fire Insurance Co., 
317. 

Cambridge National Bank, 307. 

Cambridge Parks, 119-125. 

Cambridge Platform adopted, 10, 235. 

Cambridgeport, 4 ; in 1780, 29 ; deter- 
mines to have the town-house, 31 ; 
almshouse built in, 32 ; its growth re- 
tarded by war of 1S12, 33 ; tendency 
of population to centre in, 55 ; new 
business blocks in, 128. 

Cambridgeport Aqueduct Company, 113. 

Cambridgeport National Bank, 302. 

Cambridge Port Private Grammar 
School, 192. 

Cambridgeport Savings Bank, 311. 

Cambridge Railroad, 396. 

Cambridge Royal Arch Chapter, 284. 

Cambridge Safe Deposit and Trust 
Co., 307-309. 

Cambridge Savings Bank, 309-311. 

Cambridge School for Girls, 214-217. 

Cambridge Town, 1750-1846, 14-34. 

Cambridge Village, now Newton, 8. 

Cambridge Water-Works, 113-118. 

Cambridge Wharf Company, 109. 

Canals: Broad, 30, 31, 109, 110, 127; 
West Dock, 30; South Dock, 30; 
Cross, 30. 

Cannon on the Common, 51, 52. 

Cantabrigia Club, 296. 

" Captain's Island," 124. 

Car-building, 321. 

Catholics and their Churches, The, 244. 

Catholic temperance and charitable so- 
cieties, 252. 

Catholic Union, 252. 

Cemetery Commissioners, 404. 

Charities, 259-261, 276. 

Charles II., intended to suppress the 
Company of Massachusetts Bay, 1. 



412 



GENERAL INDEX. 



Charles River Bank, 304. 

Charles River embankment, advantages 
as a place of residence, 127. 

Charles River Embankment Company, 
100, 107. 

Charles River Encampment, 286. 

Charles River National Bank, 304. 

Charles River Railroad, 399. 

Charlestown, 1 ; assembling - of General 
Court at, 2; trail to Watertown, 3; 
General Gage removes powder from, 
23 ; becomes a city, 54. 

Charlestown highway (Kirkland Street), 
8. 

Cheeshahteaumuck, Caleb, the one In- 
dian graduate of Harvard, 10. 

Cheverus, Cardinal, 245. 

Christ Church, founding of, 13 ; its 
chime of bells, 13 ; occupied by the 
Continental Army, 49 ; opened for 
service, 239 ; Dr. Hoppin's ministry, 
239. 

Churches, Catholic : First record of 
Catholic worship in the colony, 244 ; 
School Street Chapel, Boston, pur- 
chased, 244 ; early priests, 245 ; erec- 
tion of church on Franklin Street, 
245 ; Cardinal Cheverus, 245 ; Bishop 
Fenwick, 245 ; Cambridge part of St. 
Mary's parish, Charlestown, 240 ; 
Simday - school organized in East 
Cambridge, 246 ; land purchased, 
246 ; St. John's Church dedicated, 
247 ; Woburn added to the parish, 
247 ; parish of St. Peter's Church, 
247, 249 ; parish of St. Mary's Church, 
248, 250; Church of the Sacred 
Heart, 249 ; parish of St. Paul's, 250 ; 
new St. John's parish, 251 ; Church 
of Notre Dame de Pith*, 251 ; parish 
of the Sacred Heart, at Mount 
Auburn, 252. 

Churches, Protestant : 

Thomas Hooker's company settle at 
Mount Wollaston, 234 ; ordered to 
come to the New Town, 234 ; a meet- 
ing-house built, 234 ; ministers, 234 ; 
remove to Connecticut, 234 ; arrival of 
Thomas Shepard's company, 234 ; a 
new church formed, 234 ; Shepard in- 
stalled as its minister, 234 ; its organ- 
ization a notable event, 234 ; it was a 
Congregational church, 234 ; the first 
meeting-house, 234 ; influence of the 
ministers on the college, 235 ; the 
Cambridge Platform framed, 235 ; 
second meeting-house built, 236 ; 
President Dunster's heresy, 236 ; 
ministers, 236 ; the third meeting- 
house, 236 ; fourth meeting-house, 
236, 238; church lands, 237 ; salaries 
of the ministers, 237 ; how they were 
I i.i id. 2:17; Dr. Holmes's pastorate, 
237 ; a church formed in the college, 



238 ; the parish dismiss Dr. Holmes, 
238 ; the church goes out with the 
pastor, 238 ; it worships in the old 
court-house, 238 ; meeting-house on 
Mt. Auburn Street erected, 238 ; later 
pastors, 23S, 2:;'.) ; its present house, 
2:!'.) ; Shepard Congregational Society 
formed, 239 ; Second Congregational 
Church, 241 ; other Congregational 
churches, 241. 

First Parish aud church removes to 
Harvard Square, 230 ; ministers, 239 ; 
Second Parish formed, 240 ; the 
church becomes Unitarian, 240 ; min- 
isters, 240. 

Rev. East Apthorp appointed mis- 
sionary of the Church of England, 
239; Christ Church opened, 230 ; Dr. 
Hoppin's ministry, 230 ; St. Peter's 
Church, 240; St. James's Cjiurch, 
240; other Episcopal churches, 240. 
Reformed Episcopal Church, 240. 
Methodist Episcopal churches, 240. 
Baptist churches, 240. 
First Universalist Church, 241 ; 
other Universalist churches, 241. 
New Church services, 241. 
United Presbyterian Church, 241. 
Reformed Presbyterian Church, 
241. 

Union Methodist Episcopal Church, 
241. 

Swedish services, 241. 

Colored churches and mission, 242. 

Church-members, suffrage limited to, 6. 

Church property exempt from taxation, 
320. 

Cities in Massachusetts, 54. 

Citizens' Trade Association, corporate 
members, 207 ; object, 297 ; member- 
ship, 207 ; its work, 297 ; officers, 297. 

City Hall, 86. 

Clark, Alvan, 76, 379. 

Clerk, City, 402. 

Clerk of Committees, 402. 

Clough, Arthur Hugh, 68. 

Clubs: Colonial, 294; Newtowne, 205; 
Cambridge, 205; Economy, 295; 
Cantabrigia, 296. 

College, the, General Court makes a 
grant for, 235 ; ordered to be placed in 
the New Town, 235 ; John Harvard's 
gifts to, 8 ; other gifts to, 8 ; given 
the name Harvard, 8 ; the yard boun- 
daries. S ; why it was placed in the 
New Town, 235 ; meant to serve the 
churches, 235 ; influence of the min- 
isters on its life, 235. See Harvard 
University. 

Colonial Club, 294. 

Commencement, the great holiday of 
the State, 50; festivities on the Com- 
mon, 50. 

Commercial Avenue, 315. 



GENERAL INDEX, 



413 



Committee of Correspondence, appoint- 
ment, 20 ; work of, 21 ; communicates 
with the Boston committee, 21 ; to re- 
lieve their Boston brethren, 22. 

Common, the, 3, 16 ; an exciting 1 epi- 
sode on, 7, 47, 48, 235 ; Whitefield 
preaches on, 13, 4S ; an indignation 
meeting on, 23, 48 ; set apart by the 
Proprietors of Common Lands, 47 ; 
title to, transferred to the town, 47 ; 
colonial elections held on, 47 ; the 
Whitefield tree, 48 ; assembling-place 
of the yeomanry, 48 ; the march from, 
to Bunker Hill, 49 ; the old elm, 49 ; 
the American army encamped on, 
49 ; Washington assumes command 
on, 49 ; his visit to, in 1789, 50 ; its 
appearance on Commencement Day, 
50 ; inclosed and beautified, 50 ; the 
Soldiers' Monument, 50 ; planting of 
a centennial tree, 51 ; statue of John 
Bridge, 52 ; Memorial Day exercises 
on 52 ; the cannon on, 52, 53. 

Common Council, 401. 

Common lands, attempt to inclose. 31; 
opposition, 31 ; stormy town meetings 
about, 31 ; appeals, 31. 

Concord Avenue improved, 116. 

Concord, college instruction at, 26. 

Confectionery, manufacture of, its be- 
ginning, 356 ; amount invested in, 358 ; 
number employed in, 358 ; raw mate- 
rial used in, 358. 

Congregational churches. 23S, 239, 241. 

Congress. See Provincial Congress. 

Constitution, General Court proposes to 
frame a, 27 ; Cambridge opposes the 
movement, 27 ; submitted to the peo- 
ple, 28 ; rejected by Cambridge, 28. 

Constitutional convention, meets at Cam- 
bridge, 28. 

Continental Army on Cambridge Com- 
mon, 49. 

Cooke, Prof. J. P., 76. 

Correctors of the press, 69. 

Cotton, John, 6, 7. 

Council of Assistants, 5, 23. 

County buildings, in East Cambridge, 
30; exempt from taxation, .'!20. 

Court-house, site of, 5 ; used as a town- 
house, 5 ; the new, 16 ; inadequate 
for town meetings, 31. 

Cox, James, publisher of the Cambridge 
Press, 221 ; the Nestor of Cambridge 
journalism, 222. 

Craigie Bridge, 29, 30. 

Craigie House (Longfellow House), 69. 

Cross Canal, 30. 

Dame schools, 1S9. 

Dana, Richard Henry, 35, 269. 

Dana Street, dividing line between Cam- 

bridgeport and Old Cambridge, 398. 
Danforth, Samuel, appointed mandamus 



councilor, 23 ; determines not to 
serve, 23. 

Danforth, Thomas, deputy-governor, 11 ; 
Benanuel Bowers's verses to, 12. 

Davenport, Charles, car-builder, 321. 

Daye, Stephen, sets up the first printing- 
press, 8 ; works printed by, 8 ; an em- 
ployee of President Dunster, 333 ; not 
a successfid printer, 333 ; becomes a 
real-estate agent, 333. 

Death-rate, 131, 132. 

Debt of the city, 59, 319, 320. 

Declaration of rights, approved, 28. 

Delta, etc., ;!7. 

Deputies, House of, established, 5. 

Dexter, D. Gilbert, founder of the Cam- 
bridge Tribune, 222. 

Dilke, Sir Charles, contrasts Cambridge, 
Massachusetts, with Cambridge, Eng- 
land, 60. 

Dodge, Col. Theodore A., describes an 
important industry, 366-370; on the 
advantages of Cambridge, 370. 

Dorchester, 1 ; exodus from, 6. 

Dowse Institute Fund, 320. 

Dowse, Thomas, library of, 41. 

Dudley, Thomas, site of his house, 2. 

Dunster, Henry, president of Harvard 
College, 12, 332; denounces infant 
baptism, 12, 236; and Edward Goffe, 
build the first schoolhouse, 188 ; re- 
moves from Cambridge, 236 ; burial 
there, 236 ; error in marking his grave, 
236 ; secures possession of the first 
printing-press, 332 ; sued for its re- 
covery, 332 ; a second press falls into 
his hands, 332 ; his political influence, 

Dunster Lodge of Odd Fellows, 2S6. 

Earthquake of 1755, 73. 

East Cambridge, 4, 29, 33 ; secures the 
county buildings, 30; improvements 
in, 128. 

East Cambridge Land Company, 109, 
314. 

East Cambridge Savings Bank, 312. 

East End Christian Union, beginnings 
of, 275 ; incorporation, 275 ; its build- 
ing', 275 ; superintendent, 275 ; gym- 
nasium, etc., 275 ; relation to the 
Associated Charities, 275 ; reading- 
room and library, 275 ; visitors, 275 ; 
the Triangle Club, 275 ; officers, 275. 

Economy Club, 295. 

Editors, famous, 220. 

Educational facilities and their relation 
to manufactures, 315. 

Election, an exciting, 7, 47, 48, 235. 

Eliot, Charles W., president of Harvard 
University, chapter by, 142. 

Eliot, Rev. John, first sermon of, to the 
Indians, 10. 

Endieott, John, governor, 2. 



414 



GENERAL INDEX. 



Engineer, City, 404. 

Episcopal churches, 239, 240. 

Episcopal Theological School, buildings, 
254; its founder, 254; his purpose, 
255 ; trustees, 255 ; its work, 255 ; 
benefactors, 250 ; deans, 250 ; profes- 
sors, 250 ; graduates, 250 ; property ex- 
empt from taxation, 820. 

Everett, Edward, describes a common 
town school, 191. 

Fall River becomes a city. 54. 

Farms, 4, 41. 

Farrar, Professor. To. 

Fav, Isaac, makes" a bequest for a hos- 
pital, 278. 

Fay House, 183, 184. 

Ferry. 4. 

Fire Department, 310. 

Fire Department, Board of Engineers 
of, 404. 

Fire engine, the first, 17 ; Henry Vas- 
salTs, 18. 

First Church, 283, 234. 

First National Bank, 305-307. 

First Parish, opposes a new parish south 
of the Charles, 15 ; petitions for a strip 
of land from Watertown, 15 ; petition 
granted, 15 ; wants a strip from 
Charlestown, 15 ; the strip annexed, 
15 ; but does not become part of Cam- 
bridge, 15 ; triumph of the separatists 
south of the Charles, 10 ; called the 
body of the town, Iti; terminates its 
contract with Dr. Holmes, 31, 238 ; 
majority of the parish Unitarians, 31 ; 
Dr. Holmes and his followers with- 
draw from, 31 ; erects a new building, 
32, 239. 

First Parish meeting-house, location, 5 ; 
second house, 5 ; a fourth house 
erected, 17 ; the college contribution, 
17 ; Washington attends service in, 17 ; 
constitutional convention held in, 17 ; 
Lafayette received in, 17 ; college ex- 
ercises in, 17 ; used for town meetings, 
31 ; the fifth house built, 32 ; the col- 
lege bears a portion of the expense, 
•">'_' ; retains rights in it, 32. See 
Churches, Protestant. 

First Street, opened, 110; its impor- 
tance, 110. 

Fitting - Schools for bovs and girls, 
•_M7. 

Folsom, Charles V., 09, 330, 337. 

Freemasonry, beginning of history in 
Cambridge, 280; its importance in 
Revolutionary days, 280 ; association 
first known as Aurora Society, 28< I ; 
meetings at Hovey's Tavern, 280 ; 
signers to the original call, 280 ; first 
meeting, 280 ; by-laws, 280 ; officers, 
281 ; petition for a charter. 281 ; name 
Aurora unsatisfactory, 281 ; name 



Amicable adopted, 281 ; new members 
admitted, 281 ; consecration of the 
lodge, 281 ; lodge rooms, 281 ; steady 
growth, 281 ; anti-Masonic excitement, 
282 ; the organization dissolved, 282 ; 
the Masonic Charity Fund offered the 
city, 2S2 ; the offer not accepted, 283 ; 
the charter restored, 288 ; the first 
meeting, 283 ; meeting-places, 283 ; 
semi-centennial, 283 ; seventy-fifth 
anniversary, 283 ; present number of 
members, 283 ; other Masonic organi- 
zations, 284. 

Freight facilities, 127. 

Fresh Pond, 113, 114, 110, 117. 

Fresh Pond Park, 117, 125. 

Friendship Lodge of Odd Fellows, 286. 

Frozen Truth, 91, 94. 

Gage, General, seizes powder in Charles- 
town, 23, 48 ; and fieldpieces in Cam- 
bridge, 23, 48. 

Gallows Lot, executions on, 5, 12. 

Gambrel-Roofed House, The, 43-46. 

Gardner, Col. Thomas, killed at Bunker 
Hill, 26. 

General Court, places of assembling, 2 ; 
how formed, 5 ; adjourned from Bos- 
ton to Cambridge, 20 ; proposes to 
frame a constitution, 27. 

Gibbs, Dr. Wolcott, 77. 

Gilman, Arthur, his plan for the col- 
legiate instruction of women, 177, 178 ; 
Regent of Radcliffe College, 174; 
opens the Cambridge School for Girls, 
214 ; secretary of the Humane Society, 
270. 

Girls, excluded from early schools, 189, 
190. 

God's Acre, 5, 10, 134. 

Goffe, Edward, and President Dunster, 
build the first schoolhouse, 188. 

Goffe, William, 11. 

Gookin, Rev. Nathaniel, 230. 

Government, municipal, on what it de- 
pends, 78 ; elimination of partisanship 
in, 78 ; non-partisanship in Cambridge, 
78, 79 ; machinery of, in Cambridge, 
80. 

Government, of the City of Cambridge, 
401-405. 

Graded schools introduced by Cam- 
bridge. 33. 

Grand Army in Cambridge : William 
H. Smart Post 30 ; Charles Beck Post 
51 ! ; P. Stearns Davis Post 57 ; John 
A. Logan Post 180, 287. 

Grand Junction Railroad, 314. 

Gray, Dr. Asa, 73 ; his works and his 
trees, 74. 

Green, James D., first mayor of Cam- 
bridge, 02. 

Greene, Samuel, old-time printer, 333, 
880 ; works printed by, 330. 



GENERAL INDEX. 



415 



Harbor Master, 404. 

Hartford, Conn., founded, 6. 

Harvard, name given to the college at 

' the New Town, 8. See College and 
Harvard University. 

Harvard Annex. See Radcliffe College. 

Harvard Bank, 305, 306. 

Harvard Branch of the Fitchburg Rail- 
road, 396. 

Harvard Bridge, 4, 106, 108. 

Harvard Hall, 'burning of, 17, 18 ; 
General Court meets in, 20. 

Harvard, Rev. John, 8. 

Harvard Square, formerly part of the 
Common, 16, 23 ; the town centre, 
16 ; ceases to be the centre, 31 ; 
sketch of, in 1822, 35, 36. 

Harvard Street, formerly Braintree, S ; 
called Craigie Road, 37. 

Harvard University (see College), area 
of lands, 142 ; purchases and sales, 
142, 143 ; its open spaces a benefit, 
144, 145 ; the University population, 
145 ; makes permanent residents, 
145 ; collections open to the public, 
145, 146 ; lectures, 146 ; concerts, 146 ; 
chapel services, 146 ; effect on the 
public schools, 146 ; on the printing 
establishments, 147 ; business of 
boarding and lodging, 147 ; private 
dormitories, 147 ; business dependent 
on, 147 ; effect on Cambridge as a 
place of residence, 147-149; a type 
of its life, 149 ; summer pilgrims to, 
149 ; its origin, history, and purpose, 
150 ; what it includes, 151 ; courses 
of instruction, 151 ; the College, 151 ; 
framework of a student's career, 152 ; 
Lawrence Scientific School, 152, 153 ; 
Graduate School, 153, 154 ; Divinity 
School, 154; Law School, 154, 155; 
Medical School, 156 ; Dental School, 
156, 157 ; School of Veterinary Med- 
icine, 157 ; Bussey Institution, 157 ; 
Summer School, 157, 15S ; Athletic 
buildings, 158 ; laboratories and mu- 
seums, 158 ; religious life, 158 ; capi- 
tal, investments, and income, 159 ; its 
spirit, 159; "Harvard indifference," 
160 ; its motto, 160 ; religious life at. 
thirty years ago, 161 ; development 
of the new religious life, 162, 163 ; 
preachers to the University, 163 ; 
practical results, 163 ; physical train- 
ing at, 165-170 ; Lady Ann Moulson 
establishes its first scholarship, 174 ; 
property exempt from taxation, 320. 

Harvard University in its Relations to 
the City, 142-149. 

Harvard Washington Corps, 37. 

Hayward, Almira L., 232. 

Health, Board of, 132, 402. 

Health of Cambridge, The, 131, 132. 

Health, the first board of, 271. 



Henry Highland Garnett Division, K. 
of P., 292. 

Heresy, dread of, 10. 

Hews, Abraham, entries in his journal 
April 10, 1775,382. 

Higginson, Stephen, 35, 36. 

High buildings, 129. 

Hill, Dr. G. B., author of " Harvard 
College by an Oxonian," 72. 

Holmes, John, Ballade by, vi; 35, 183. 

Holmes, Oliver Wendell. 33. 

Holmes, Rev. Abiel, dismissed from the 
First Parish, 31, 238 ; his farm, 41 ; 
importance of his pastorate, 337 ; his 
ministrations in the " Port, ' ' 240 ; 
founds the Humane Society, 267. 

Hooker, Rev. Thomas, arrives at New 
Town, 6 ; his company not satisfied, 
6 ; they remove to Connecticut, 6, 
233 ; and found Hartford, 6. 

Horton, Elizabeth, 12. 

Hospital, Cambridge, opened by Miss 
E. E. Parsons, 278 ; incorporated, 
278 ; closed, 278 ; Isaac Fay's bequest, 
278 ; additional gifts, 278 ; extent of 
hospital inclosure, 278 ; surroundings, 
278 ; buildings, 279 ; the hospital 
opened, 279 ; number cared for, 279 ; 
its accommodations, 279 ; cost of land 
and buildings, 27U ; cost of mainte- 
nance, 279 ; property exempt from 
taxation, 320. 

Houghton, H. O., tells the story of the 
first printing-press, 332, 333 ; 334 ; 
founder of the Riverside Press, 335. 

House of Deputies established, 5. 

Howells, W. D., letter from, iv. 

Humane Society, Cambridge, when 
founded, 267 ; preliminary meetings, 
267 ; objects, 267-269 ; fist of arti- 
cles procured, 267 ; beneficiaries, 207- 
26U ; first officers. 268 ; address, 268, 
269 ; some early members, 269 ; offi- 
cers, 269, 270 ; its work, 270 ; life- 
saving apparatus, 270, 271 ; the 
original board of health, 271 ; its 
operations extended, 272 ; its bathing- 
house, 272-273 ; 'members, 273 ; pres- 
idents, 273, 274. 

Huron Avenue, 110. 

Hutchinson, Anne, controversy over her 
religious teachings, 7, 235 ; her opin- 
ions condemned, 7, 235 ; sentenced to 
banishment, 7. 

Indians, Mystic, 9, 10 ; their squaw 
sachem, 9, 10 ; Cambridge land 
bought of them, 9, 10 ; friendly rela- 
tions with the whites, 10 ; put 
themselves under the protection of 
the English, 10 ; Eliot's first sermon 
to, 10 ; number professing Christian- 
ity, 10; Harvard's one Indian gradu- 
ate, 10 ; in King Philip's War, 10. 



416 



GENERAL INDEX. 



Jail in East Cambridge, 30. 
Jail on Winthrop Street, 5, 16. 
Jefferson Physical Laboratory, 72. 
John A. Logan Post, 290. 
Johnson, Edward, quoted, 2, 235. 
Journalists and editors, 219-223. 

Kendall, Joshua, school for bovs, 211, 
212. 

Kindergartens, 200, 217. 

Kingsley, Chester W., 118 n., 120. 

Knights of Pythias : St. Omer Lodge, 
292 ; American Lodge, 292 ; Uniform 
Rank Garnett Division, 292 ; Henry 
Highland Garnett Lodge, 292. 

Knox, General, 51. 

Labor-market, 315. 

Lake View Avenue, 110. 

Langdon, President, prayer of, 49. 

Law Enforcement Association, 92. 

Lawrence becomes a city, 54. 

Lechmere Bank, 303. 

Lechmere Point Corporation, 30 ; erects 
county buildings at East Cambridge, 
30. 

Lee, Joseph, appointed mandamus coun- 
cilor, 23 ; determines not to serve, 23. 

Lexington, formerly Cambridge Farms, 
9 ; church formed at, 23. 

Library. See Public Library. 

Life in Cambridge Town, 35-42. 

Literary Life in Cambridge, 07-71. 

Little Cambridge, 9. See Third Parish 
and Brighton. 

Longfellow, H. W., 69, 70. 

Longfellow Garden, the, 69. 

Longfellow Memorial Association, prop- 
erty exempt from taxation, 320. 

Lovering, Professor, 76. 

Lowell, J. R., 35, 37 ; his playful plaint, 
60, 69 ; what he would rather see, 70 ; 
a singer of good politics, 90 ; his de- 
scription of Fresh Pond meadows, 
125. 

Lowell, high school in, 192. 

Lowlands, reclamation of, 106, 107, 109, 
111, 127. 

Lynn becomes a city, 54. 

Mandamus councilors, 23. 

Manson, Elizabeth, kindergarten, 217. 

Manual Training School for Boys, its 
building, 85, 86, 224, 225 ; object of 
its founders, 224; opening of the 
school, 225 ; supervising committee, 
225 ; its reputation, 225 ; an indispen- 
sable factor in the school system, 225 ; 
equipment, 225 ; its scope, 226 ; not a 
trade school, 226 ; prepares for scien- 
tific or higher technical schools, 226; 
stimulating influences, 226 ; fire drill, 
227 ; military drill. 227 ; the band, 
227; the glee club, 227. 



Manufactures, for year ending April 1, 
1845, 322 ; June 1, 1855, 323 ; May 1, 
1865, 324 ; May 1, 1875, 325 ; during 
year 1890, 328 ; general statistics for 
year ending June 30, 1885, 331. 

Manufacturing, Cambridge a centre for, 
313; favorable conditions for, 313; 
land available for, 313, 314; trans- 
portation facilities, 31;] ; labor-mar- 
ket, 315 ; relation of park system to, 
313; fire protection, 316 ; police pro- 
tection, 316 ; table of comparative 
water rates for, 3 18 ; product of manu- 
factures, 322 ; statistics, 322-331. See 
Index to Manufactures. 

Manufacturing establishments June 30, 
1885, 327. 

Market House, 36. 

Markham, Jeannette, school for girls, 
217. 

Marshes, 110. 

Masonic organizations. See Freema- 
sonry. 

Massachusetts Avenue (Concord Road), 
37. 

Massachusetts Bay, Company of, trans- 
ference of its charter a popular move- 
ment, 1 ; its first settlements, 1 ; seeks 
a seat of government, 1 ; what gov- 
erned its choice, 1 ; the enemy most 
to be feared, 1 ; Charles I. intended 
its suppression, 1 ; erects New Town 
for a seat of government, 2. 

Massachusetts, cities in, 541. 

Mather, Cotton, commends Mr. Shep- 
ard's " vigilancy," 7. 

Mattabeseck (Middletown), Conn., 7. 

Mayor, 401. 

Mayors, list of, 63. 

Medford, removes its powder from 
Charlestown, 23. 

Meeting-house, the first. 5, 234. 

Memorial Day exercises on the Com- 
mon. 51. 

Memorial Hall, site of, 36, 37. 

Menotomy, becomes the Second Parish 
of Cambridge, 9, 14. 2:16. 

Menotomy Road (Massachusetts Ave- 
nue), 133. 

Methodist churches, 240. 

Middlesex Bank, 303. 

Middletown, Conn., settled, 7. 

Milestone in Harvard Square, 134. 

Milk, Inspector of, 405. 

Minute-men, monument to, 135. 

Mitchel, Rev. Jonathan, 235. 

Mizpah Lodge of Masons, 284. 

Monti Luigi, the "Young Sicilian," 
211. 

Morse, Royal, auctioneer, 40. 

"Morse's hourly," 38. 

Moulson. Lady Ann, establishes scholar- 
ship at Harvard, 1 74 ; Radcliff e Col- 
lege named for, 175. 



GENERAL INDEX. 



417 



J 



Moulson, Sir Thomas, 174. 

Mount Auburn, location, 139 ; known as 
" Stone's Woods," 139 ; also Sweet 
Auburn, 139 ; proprietors, 139 ; use as 
a cemetery authorized, 139 ; the 
tower, 139 ; first committee for the 
cemetery, 139, 140; consecration, 140; 
incorporation, 140 ; first burials, 140 ; 
the chapel, 140 ; statues, 140, 141 ; the 
Sphinx, 140; gateway, 140; monu- 
ments, 140, 141 ; eminent dead, 141 ; 
Franklin monument, 141 ; interments, 
141 ; fimds, 141 ; other lands of the 
corporation, 141. 

Mount Auburn Corporation, 140. 

Mount Auburn Lodge of Odd Fellows, 
186.' 

Mount Auburn Street, "the back road 
to Mount Auburn," 37. 

Mount Olivet Lodge of Masons, 284. 

Mount Sinai Lodge of Odd Fellows, 286. 

Mulford, Elisha, 68. 

Municipal government. See Govern- 
ment. 

National City Bank, 303. 

Neck, the, 4, 127. 

New Bedford becomes a city, 54 ; high 
school in, 192. 

New Cambridge, 9. 

Newburyport becomes a city, 54. 

New-Church Theological School, 37 ; 
location, 257 ; chapel services, 257 ; 
curriculum, 258 ; teachers, 258 ; 
management, 258 ; students, 258 ; 
property exempt from taxation, 320. 

New England Encampment, 286. 

New England Glass Company, 33. 

New England Lodge of Odd Fellows, 
286. 

New Jerusalem Church, 241. 

Newspapers : New England Chronicle 
and Gazette, 218 ; Chronicle, 221 ; 
Press, 221 ; Tribune, 222 ; News, 222; 
Crimson, 223 ; Lampoon, 223 ; Advo- 
cate, 223 ; Harvard Graduates' Mag- 
azine, 223 ; Sacred Heart Review, 
223. 

Newton, formerly Cambridge Village 
and New Cambridge, 8, 9 ; set off 
from Cambridge, 236 ; First Church 
organized, 236. 

New Town, erection of, 2 ; form, 2 ; 
intended for seat of government, 2 ; 
intention gradually abandoned, 2 ; 
assembling of General Court at, 2 ; 
bounds, 2 ; streets, 2, 3 ; defenses, 3 ; 
"too far from the sea," 3; neat and 
compact, 3 ; inhabitants, 3 ; the com- 
mon grazing-land, 3 ; house-lots and 
homesteads, 3 ; its " West End," 3 ; 
building restrictions, 3 ; the " Neck," 
4 ; farms, 4 ; its threefold partition, 
4 ; communications with Boston, 4 ; 



first meeting-house, 5 ; palisade, 5, 8, 
133 ; accessions to the population, 
6 ; Thomas Hooker's company leave 
for Connecticut, 6 ; the town nearly 
depopulated, 6 ; arrival of Thomas 
Shepard and his congregation, 7 ; 
election on the Common, 7, 47, 48, 
235 ; Mrs. Hutchinson sentenced at, 
7 ; the college placed in, 8 ; name 
changed to Cambridge, S. See Cam- 
bridge. 

Newtown. See Newton. 

Newtowne Club, 295. 

No-license vote, its effect upon the city, 
316. 

Nonantum, John Eliot preaches to the 
Indians at, 10 ; within Cambridge 
limits, 10. 

North Avenue Savings Bank, 311. 

North Cambridge, improvements in, 12S. 

Norton, Rev. John, criticism of Mrs. 
Bradstreet's verses, 2. 

Oakes, Rev. Urian, minister, acting- 
president, and president of the col- 
lege, 236. 

Observatory, 75, 76. 

Odd-Fellowship, its position, 285 ; 
strength and popularity, 285 ; first 
founded in England, 285 ; first Amer- 
ican lodge, 285 ; its purpose, 285 ; its 
motto and aim, 285 ; its work, 285 ; 
Cambridge organizations, 286 ; build- 
ings, 286. 

Old Cambridge, 2. See New Town. 

Oldest Cambridge, 2. See New Town. 

Old-time Society, An, 267-274. 

( )ld Villagers, 60. 

Olive Branch Rebekah Lodge, 286. 

Oliver, Thomas, lieutenant-governor, 
23 ; his promise to Cambridge citizens, 
24. 

Ossoli, Margaret Fuller, 35. 

Overseers of the Poor, 403. 

Owen, John, 51. 

Paige, Rev. Lucius R., 276, 281, 284. 

Palisade at the New Town, 5, 8, 133 ; 
Watertown refuses to share the ex- 
pense of building. S ; needed as a 
protection from wild beasts, 8. 

Park Commissioners, 403. 

Parks, committee to consider the subject 
of, 120 ; public grounds in 1892, 120 ; 
their inadequacy, 120 ; Park Com- 
missioners appointed, 120 ; the begin- 
nings of their work, 120 ; Broadway 
Common, 121 ; the East Cambridge 
embankment, 122 ; Cambridge Field, 
122; Rindge Field, 123; four miles 
of river parkway, 123 ; the basin of 
the Charles, 123; "Captain's Island," 
124 ; views from the river parkway, 
124; Fresh Pond Park, 125 ; Lowell's 



418 



GENERAL INDEX. 



description of the Fresh Pond mead- 
ows, 1L'5. 
Parsonage, the, 10. 

Parson's allowance in 1680, 10. 
Parsons, Emily E.. 277. 

Peabody, Rev! A. P., 162. 

Peirce, Prof. Benjamin, remark of, 76. 

Physical training, 164. 165 ; Harvard's 
first attempt. 165-167 ; Kay"s private 
gymnasium, 167 ; recreative games, 
167 ; boat races, 167 ; first game of 
baseball, 168 ; Hemenway Gymna- 
sium, 168 ; Harvard Athletic Associ- 
ation established, 168 ; football, 168 ; 
the old-style gymnasium, 168, 169 ; 
the new apparatus, 169; physical ex- 
aminations, 169 ; Harvard Athletic 
Committee, 170 ; Y. M. C. A. gymna- 
sium, 171 ; Cambridgeport gymna- 
sium, 171 ; growth of interest in phy- 
sical development in the United 
States, 171 ; students of physical 
training at Harvard, 172 ; influence 
on the youth of Cambridge, 172, 173 ; 
the college offers the use of its 
grounds to the city, 173. 

Pine Swamp Field, 4. 

,l Pointers," 60. 

Police Department, 405. 

Police force, 316. 

Ponema Tribe, Red Men, 293. 

Poor's House, the, 17, 276. 

Population, in 10S0, 10; in 1750, 17; 
in 1765, 17; in 1776, 17, 29; in 1790, 
32; in 1810,32; in 1840, 32; in 1850, 
32 ; in 1895, 59 ; comparative state- 
ment of, 3 19. 

Population, density of, 131. 

Port Bill, 22. 

" Port chucks," 38. 

" Porters," 60. 

Porter's Tavern. -".7. 

Prescott, Col. William, 49. 

Printing-press, the first, 8 ; productions 
of, 8. 

Prison Point Bridge, 29. 

Private Schools in Cambridge, 208-217. 

Professors' Row (Kirkland Street), 36, 
37, 41. 

Prospect Union, object, 265 ; name, 265 ; 
begins work in the Prospect House, 

265 ; leaders, 2(55 ; outgrows its quar- 
ters, 265 ; occupies the old City Hall, 
265; classes, 265, 266 ; teachers, 266 ; 
the University's interest in the Union, 

266 ; weekly meetings, 266 ; lectures, 
266 ; not a charitable institution, 266 ; 
members' fees, 266; non- sectarian, 
266 ; spirit, 266 ; privileges of mem- 
bers, 266 ; its value to the city, 316. 

Protestant Churches of Cambridge, The, 

2:53-24:5. 
Provincial Congress, organized at Salem. 

25 ; adjourns to Concord, 25 ; then to 



Cambridge, 25 ; appoints a receiver- 
general, 25 ; second, meets at Cam- 
bridge, 25. 

P. Stearns Davis Post, 57, 290. 

Public Buildings, Superintendent of. and 
Inspector of Buildings, 404. 

Public Library, The, 22S-2.'!2 ; its origin 
in the Cambridge Athenseum, 228 ; 
bequest of James Brown for the 
purchase of books, 22S ; the library 
opened, 228 ; Athenanim building be- 
comes the property of the city, 228 ; 
which agrees to maintain the library, 
228 ; receives the name of the Dana 
Library, 22S ; Mr. ] )ana's bequest lost, 
228 ; made free, 228 ; name changed 
to Cambridge Public Library, 22S ; 
number of volumes, 228 : Mr. Rindge's 
gift, 228 ; the library building. 228, 
229 ; general reading-room, 229 ; chil- 
dren's room, 22'.l ; local deliveries, 
221 ) ; Cambridgeport branch, 229 ; 
school delivery, 22'.), 230 ; total yearly 
circidation, 230 ; visitors, 230 ; month- 
ly bulletin, 230 ; special reading-lists, 
230 ; Cambridge Memorial Room, 230, 
231; manuscript rarities, 231 ; Thirty- 
eighth Regiment flag, 231 ; gifts from 
Cambridge people, 231 ; Miss Hay- 
ward's work, 232. 

Public Library building, S3, 84, 228, 
229. 

Public Schools of Cambridge, The, 187- 
208. 

Putnam Lodge of Masons, 284. 

Quakers in Cambridge, 12, 13. 
Quineboquin (the crooked) River, 123. 

Radcliffe College, why so named, 174, 
1 75 ; established by the legislature, 
1 75 ; Dr. Stearns's idea of a college 
for women in Cambridge, 175; origin 
of Radcliffe, 1 76 ; first plan for the 
collegiate instruction of women, 176 ; 
a house chosen, 177; Mr. Gilman un- 
folds his plan to President Eliot, 177, 
178 ; Professor Greenough's reception 
of the scheme, 178 : President Eliot 
willing the experiment should be tried, 
178; the '"committee," 178; Harvard 
professors approve the scheme, 179; 
the first announcement, 171); the ex- 
aminations, 180 ; work begun, ISO ; 
educational privileges for women, ISO ; 
the line of progress, 181 ; intellectual 
character of the students, 181, 182; 
certificates, 182 ; the secretary, 1S2 ; 
the quarters prove too small, 183; 
enlargement. 183; a guardian angel, 
183; a building becomes a necessity, 
183 ; Miss Fay offers her homestead, 
183 ; Fay House purchased. 183 ; The 
Society for the Collegiate Instruction 



GENERAL INDEX. 



419 



of Women incorporated, 184 ; its 
nickname, 184 ; enlargement of Fay 
House, 184 ; incorporation of Radcliffe 
College, 184 ; growth of the work, 
185 ; its union with Harvard, 186 ; 
property exempt from taxation, 320. 

Railways, street, 395-399. 

Real estate owned by the city, 59. 

Real-Estate Interests of Cambridge, 
126-130. 

Red Men. Improved Order of, 293. 

Reed, Benjamin T., founds the Epis- 
copal Theological School, 254, 255. 

Reemie, Marcus, barber shop of, viii, 35. 

Reformed Presbyterian Church, 241. 

Regicide judges, their life in Cambridge, 
11. 

Reid, Andrew, founder of the Cam- 
bridge Chronicle, 221. 

Reidesel, General, quartered in the Sew- 
all House, 2S. 

Reidesel. Madame, describes life in Tory 
Row, 2S. 

Religious societies, 33. 

Rindge Field, 123. 

Rindge. Frederick H., 83-86, 196, 224. 
227, 228. 

Rindge Gifts, the, 82-86. 

Riverside Press, The, 32 ; founded by 
H. O. Houghton. 335, 

River Street Bridge, 29. 

Roxbury becomes a city, 54. 

St. Giles's church, Edinburgh, tumult 
in, 1. 

St. Omer Lodge, K. of P., 292. 

Saloons, exclusion of, 92 ; effect of their 
exclusion on the population of the 
city, 94 ; on the treasury, 95 ; on the 
savings banks, 95, 316 ; on the busi- 
ness of the city, 95, 316 ; on real es- 
tate, 128. 

Sanders Temperance Fund, 277, 320. 

Savings Banks. See Banks. 

Savings Banks, increase of deposits in, 
95, 316. 

School Committee, 402. 

Schoolhouse, the first permanent, 10 ; 
site, 10 ; built by President Dunster 
and Edward Goffe, 1SS. 

Schoolmaster's salary in 16S0, 10. 

Schools in 1800, 33 ;'in 1845, 33. 

Schools, graded, 33. 

Schools, private : Professor Agassiz's, 
209-211 ; Joshua Kendall's, 211, 212 ; 
Berkeley Street School, 212 ; Browne 
and Nichols. 212-214; Cambridge 
School for Girls, 214-217; Fitting- 
School for Boys and Girls, 217. 

Schools, public : 

Elijah Corlett's " faire Grammar 
Schoole," 187 ; his reputation as a 
teacher, 188 ; his first schoolhouse, 
18S ; Indian youths fitting for college, 



188 ; the Court orders towns to appoint 
teachers, 188 ; how teachers' salaries 
were paid, 188 ; Mr. Corlett's meagre 
fees, 188 ; the town comes to the res- 
cue, 1SS ; votes him an annual sal- 
ary, 188 ; grants from the General 
Court, 188 ; early grammar school a 
college fitting-school, 18S, 189 ; for 
boys exclusively, 189 ; no formal pro- 
vision for girls, 189 ; fashionable to 
ridicule female learning, 190 ; how 
girls worked their way into the public 
schools, 190 ; successors to Corlett's 
schoolhouse, 190 ; transformation of 
the colonial grammar school, 191 ; 
Edward Everett's description of a 
common town school, 191 ; a gram- 
mar school in a double sense, 191 ; 
" children " comes to includes both 
sexes, 191 ; co-education in Massachu- 
setts, 192 ; the sexes separated, 192 ; the 
Auburn Female High School, 193 ; 
the girls fare better than the boys, 
193 ; schools made for both sexes, 
193 ; Auburn High and Grammar 
School, 193 ; high and grammar 
school classes part company, 193 ; the 
tablet in the wall of the Washington 
building, 194; high school organized 
in Cambridgeport, 194 ; its first 
teacher, 194 ; not favored in Old 
Cambridge, 194; Otis schoolhouse in 
East Cambridge, 194 ; teachers, 194 
teachers of Female High School, 194 
high school for the city opened, 195 
teachers, 195 ; Old Cambridge oppo- 
sition, 195 ; Old Cambridge high 
school closed, 195 ; beginning of the 
Cambridge High School, 195 ; its new 
building, 195; popularity, 195; a 
third home, 195 ; the high school di- 
vided, 195; the Latin School, 190; 
English High School building, 196; 
Manual Training School, 196; anew 
building for the Latin School, 196 ; a 
decade of unparalleled high school 
development, 196; Mr. Rindge's gifts, 
196. 

Fifty years ago, fruit of, 197; ex- 
hibitions, 197; corporal punishment 
diminishing, 197; reading, 197; ir- 
regular attendance, 198; school libra- 
ries, 198 ; committee visits, 198 ; popu- 
larity of Cambridge schools, 198 ; 
grades, 198 ; cost of instruction, 198; 
spelling, 198, 199 ; protest against 
many studies, 199; need of good 
teachers, 199 ; schools too large, 199 ; 
schoolhouses, 199, 200 ; excuses, 200 ; 
bad behavior, 200 ; progress, 201, 202. 

Schools of to-day : committee, 202 ; 
superintendents, 202 ; high school sys- 
tem, 203 ; head masters and teachers, 
203 ; a wider range of choice, 203 ; 



420 



GENERAL INDEX. 



grammar schools, 203, 204 ; training- 
school for teachers, 204 ; plan for 
shortening grammar school courses, 
205 ; special teachers, 205, 206 ; 
geometry and physics, 205 ; primary 
schools, 205 ; superintendents, 2< 15 ; 
kindergartens, 200 ; evening schools, 
200; truant officers, 200 ; statistics, 
1845 and 1895, 206 ; comparisons, 21 17 ; 
further educational advantages, 2( 17. 

Scientific Cambridge, 72-77. 

Scie ntific School, 75, 76 ; instructors. 75. 

Second Parish, incorporated as West 
Cambridge, 9, 16. 

Sewall or Lechmere House, 28. 

Sewall, Jonathan, his windows broken 
by Cambridge citizens, 23. 

Sewers, Superintendent of, 404. 

Shays's Rebellion, 32. 

Shepard, Rev. Thomas, arrival at New 
Town, 7, 233 ; his " vigilancy " against 
heresies, 7 ; his ministry, 7, 235 ; his 
presence determines the seating of 
the college, 235. 

Shepard Congregational Society, organ- 
ized, 31, 230. 

Simond's Hill, 37. 

Sinking Funds, Commissioners of the, 
403/ 

Social Union, property exempt from 
taxation, 320. 

Society for the Collegiate Instruction of 
Women. See Radcliffe College. 

Society for the Propagation of the Gos- 
pel in Foreign Parts, sends missionary 
to Cambridge, 240. 

Soldiers' Monument, 50. 

Solicitor, City, 404. 

Somerville Powder House, 23. 

South Dock Canal, 30. 

Springfield becomes a city, 54. 

Squire, John P., 371, 373. 

Stage lines to Boston, 395, 396. 

Stamp Act, 10. 

Stearns, Rev. William A., his idea of a 
college for women, 175 ; on co-educa- 
tion, 193. 

Stony Brook, 113, 114. 

Story, W. W., 35, 37. 

Street improvements, 128. 

Street railways, 395-399. 

Streets, Superintendent of, 404. 

Streets tributary to bridges, 29. 

Students, moral improvement in, 39, 40. 

Students, Southern, 38, 3'.). 

Suffrage, limited to church-members. 6. 

Sweet Auburn, 139. See Mount Au- 
burn. 

Taxation, property exempt from. 320. 
Taxation without representation, early 

case of. .">. 
Tax rate 59. 
Tea, duty on, 21, 22. 



Tea, destruction of, 22. 

Third Parish, called Little Cambridge, 
0; attempts to establish, 14, 15; op- 
position, 14, 15 ; compromises, 15 ; new 
petition and counter-petition, 16; the 
precinct incorporated, 16 ; a church 
founded. 16 ; incorporated as the town 
of Brighton, 16. See Brighton. 

Thompson, Benjamin (Count Rumford), 
73. 

Toll bridges. 20. 

Tory Row. 28. 

Town, body of, 16. 

" Town boys " and " Wells boys," 38. 

Town church. See First Parish. 

Town-house, location, 31. 

Town, traces of English method of form- 
ing, in Cambridge, 4. 

Travel between Boston and Cambridge, 
400. 

Treadwell, Prof. Daniel, 73. 

Treasurer, City, 402. 

Trowbridge, Prof. John, 77. 

Trustees of Cambridge Public Library, 
403. 

Uniform Rank Garnett Division, K. of 
P., 202. 

Union Methodist Episcopal Church, 241. 

Union Railway Company, incorporated, 
30(1 ; Gardiner G. Hubbard and his as- 
sociates, 396 ; first meeting of stock- 
holders, 396, 307 ; officers elected. 307 ; 
efforts to procure subscriptions, 397 ; 
cars procured, 307 ; a successful run, 
307 ; fares, 308 ; hack to call for pas- 
sengers, 398; removal of snow from 
Boston streets, 398 ; passes. 398, -100; 
absorbed in West End system, 399. 

Unitarian churches. 230, 240. 

United Presbyterian Church, 241. 

Universalist churches, 241. 

Universitv Press, The, 10 ; historv of, 
336, 337. 

Valuation from 1S86 to 1895, 319. 

Valuation, increase in. 126. 

Value of buildings, stock, and machin- 
ery. May 1, 1875, 326. 

Vane. Governor Harry, 7 ; at election on 
Cambridge Common. 47; his defeat, 
4S ; sails for England, 48 ; youngest 
person ever elected governor, 48 ; tried 
for high treason and beheaded, 48. 

Vassall, Henry, offers his fire engine to 
the town, 18. 

Vassall House (Craigie House. Longfel- 
low House), 27. 

Volunteer fire department, 55. 56. 

Voters, Registrars of, 404. 

Ward, General, headquarters. 26, 49. 

Washington Elm, 49. 

Washington, General, headquarters, 26, 



GENERAL INDEX. 



421 



27 ; assumes command of the Conti- 
nental Army, 49, 50 ; his last tour 
through New England, 50 ; reception 
on the Common, 50 ; worships in the 
First Parish meeting-house, 238. 

Watehhouse Hill, second meeting-house 
built on, 236. 

Water Board, 118, 403. 

Water front, 4, 30. 

Water rates to manufacturers, 318. 

Water supply, 316. 

Watertown, inconvenient situation of, 
1 ; trail from, to Charlestown, 3 ; re- 
fuses to be taxed for the New Town 
palisade, 5 ; portion of, annexed to 
Cambridge, 9, 15. 

Water -Works, Cambridge, chartered, 
113; authorized to take the water of 
Fresh Pond, 113 ; buys out the Aque- 
duct Company, 113 ; becomes the prop- 
erty of the city; sources of supply, 
113, 114; Stony Brook and its tribu- 
taries, 114; storage basins, 114; dis- 
tributing reservoir at Payson Park, 
114; objections to municipal control, 
1 14 ; its financial standing, 115; a help 
to the poor, 115 ; street improvements 
by, 116, 117 ; surroundings of Fresh 
Pond, 117. 

Weights and Measures, Sealer of, 405. 

West Boston Bridge, 29, 495. 

West Cambridge, 9, 16. 

West Dock Canal, 30. 

"West End," 3. 

Western Avenue Bridge, 29. 

" West Field," 4. 

Wethersfield, Conn., founded, 6. 

Whalley, the regicide, 11. 



Wharton, Francis, 68. 

White, Daniel, Charity, 277, 320. 

Whitelield, George, preaches on the 
Common, 13, 4b ; a friend to the col- 
lege, 236. 

Whiteheld tree, 48. 

Willard, Emery, the village strong man, 
40. 

William H. Smart Post 30, 288. 

Williams, Rev. Mr., 73. 

Willson, Forceythe, 68. 

Wilson, John, Sr„ 334. 

Wilson, Rev. John, election speech of, 
7,48. 

Windmill Hill, 3. 

Windsor, Conn., founded, 6. 

Winlock, Professor, 75. 

Winship, Mrs. Joanna, tomb of, 189. 

Winthrop, John, 1, 2, 7, 47. 

Winthrop, Prof. John, 72, 73. 

Winthrop Square, 5. 

Wires, Inspectors of, and Superintend- 
ent of Lamps, 404. 

Witchcraft, 11, 12. 

Wollaston, Mount, Thomas Hooker's 
company settle at. 6. 233. 

Wolves, bounties for, 9. 

Worcester becomes a city, 54. 

Worcester, Joseph E., lexicographer, 68. 

Worthington Street, 116. 

Wright, Elizur, description of London 
parks, i 19. 

Wyniau, Prof. Jeffries, 73, 75. 

Young Men's Christian Association, 242 ; 

property exempt from taxation, 320. 
Young Women's Christian Association, 

242. 



INDEX TO MANUFACTURES. 



Barrels. 

Goepper Brothers, 392. 
Bicycle Tires. 

Boston Woven Hose and Rubber Co., 
3G6. 
Bluing. 

David W. Davis, 39.3. 
Boilers. 

William Campbell & Co., 355. 

Edward Kendall & Sons, 345. 

Rawson & Morrison Manufacturing 
Co., 348. 

Riverside Boiler Works, 352. 

Roberts Iron Works Co., 355. 
Bookbinding. 

J. H. H. McNamee, 341. 

Riverside Bindery, 383. 
Boxes. 

Carios L. Page & Co., 393. 

George G. Page Box Co., 384. 
Boxes, Paper. 

Charles Place, 391. 
Brass Work. 

Bay State Metal "Works, 352. 

Standard Brass Co., 352. 
Brick. 

Bay State Brick Co., 38S. 

N. M. Cofran & Co., 3SS. 

D. Warren De Rosav, 388. 

Edward A. Foster, 38S. 

Parry Brothers, 386. 

M. W. Sands, 388. 
Bridges and Building Frames. 

Boston Bridge Works, 349. 
Brushes. 

A. & E. Burton & Co.. 394. 

F. M. Eaton, 394. 

Carriages. 

Cambridge Carriage Co.. 364. 
Chapman Carriage Co., 363. 
H. Fletcher & Co., 364. 
Henderson Brothers. 362. 
George R. Henderson, 364. 
J. A. Henderson. 364. 
Francis Ivers & Son, 362. 
Andrew J. Jones, 363. 
Nelson Carriage Co., 363. 
Hugh Stewart & Co., 363. 



Stewart Brothers, 364. 

Charles Waugh & Co., 363. 
Cement. 

W. F. Webster Cement Co., 395. 
Chemists. 

Henry Thayer & Co., 392. 
Collars and Cuffs. 

Reversible Collar Co., 375. 
Confectionery. 

Bav State Confectionery Co., 357. 

B. P. Clark & Co., 356. 

George Close, 357. 

D. M. Hazen & Co., 357. 

Jensen Brothers, 35S. 

R, H. Leach, 358. 

H. F. Sparrow, 357. 
Corn Brooms. 

F. M. Eaton & Co., 394. 
Crackers. 

New York Biscuit Co., 378. 

Diaries. 

The Cambridgeport Diary Co., 339- 
341. 
Dye-Stuffs and Chemicals. 

Jerome Marble & Co., 394. 

Farming Tools. 

Breed Weeder Co., 395. 
Feather Dusters. 

A. A E. Burton & Co., 394. 
Fertilizers. 

John C. Dow & Co., 3!)4. 
Furniture. 

W. H. C. Badger & Co., 365. 

A. H. Davenport, 366. 

Ericson. G. F., 366. 

A. M. & D. W. Grant, 366. 

Graves & Phelps. 366. 

Irving & Casson, 365. 

Keeler & Co. , 364. 

Otis Woodworks, 366. 

P. A. Pederson, 366. 

Lee L. Powers, 366. 

William W. Robertson. 366. 

Rourke & Kenned v. 366. 

A. B. & E. L. Shaw, 365. 

D. C. Storr Furniture Co., 366. 

T. B. W T entworth, 366. 



INDEX TO MANUFACTURES. 



423 



Electric Heating. 

American Electric Heating Corpora- 
tion, 351. 
Electric Hoists. 

Walter W. Field, 355. 
Electric Lighting and Power. 

Cambridge Electric Light Co., 373. 
Electric Wires and Cables. 

Simplex Electrical Co., 351. 
Engineering, Mechanical. 

E. D. Leavitt, 35(5. 
Expanded Metal Work. 

Eastern Expanded Metal Co., 351. 

Foundry. 

Broadway Iron Foundry Co., 350. 

Gas Lighting. 

Cambridge Gas Light Co., 380. 
Glass. 

P. J. McElroy & Co., 393. 

Hats. 

David Wilcox & Co., 393. 
Hoisting-Engines. 

Walter W. Field, 355. 

Miller & Shaw, 355. 
Hydraulic Hose. 

Boston Woven Hose and Rubber Co., 
366. 

Ladders and Chairs. 

C. H. W. Moulton & Co., 394. 
Lubricants. 

Hall Brothers, 351. 

Machinery. 

Barbour, Stockwell Co., 346. 

Hall Brothers, 351. 

Miller & Shaw, 355. 

Rawson & Morrison Manufacturing 
Co., 348. 

James H. Roberts & Co., 355. 
Mats and Matting. 

James A. Furfey, 305. 
Mill and Laundry Supplies. 

Alden Speare's Sons & Co., 382. 

Netting. 

American Net and Twine Co., 377. 

Oils. 

Jerome Marble & Co., 394. 

Alden Speare's Sons & Co., 3S2. 
Organs, Parlor. 

Mason & Hamlin Co., 342. 

Sylvester Tower, 344. 
Organs, Pipe. 

Samuel S. Hamill, 342. 

Paper, Enameled and Glazed. 

Reversible Collar Co., 375. 
Pavements. 

Barber Asphalt Paving Co., 395. 



Pianos. 

Ivers & Pond Piano Co., 343. 

Mason & Hamlin Co., 342. 
Piano Actions. 

George W. Seaverns Piano Action Co., 
343. 

Standard Action Co., 344. 
Piano Cases. 

George R. Oliver, 344. 
Piano Hammer Covers. 

Daniel E. Frasier, 344. 
Piano Keys. 

Sylvester Tower, 344. 
Piano Stools and Taborets. 

C. A. Cook & Co., 344. 
Pipe, Galvanized Iron. 

Lamb & Ritchie, 352. 
Plate Iron Work. 

William Campbell & Co., 355. 
Pork Packing. 

John P. Squire & Co., 371-373. 
Pottery. 

A. H. Hews & Co., 382. 
Printing, Book. 

The Athenajum Press, 337-339. 

The Riverside Press, 334-336. 

The University Press, 336, 337. 
Printing, Book and Job. 

Cambridge Cooperative Society, 341. 

The College Press, 341. 

J. Frank Faeey, 341. 

Graves & Henry, 341. 

Harvard Printing Co., 341. 

Lewis J. Hewitt, 341. 

Jennings & Welch, 341. 

F. L. Lamkin & Co., 341. 

G. B. Lenfest, 341. 
Lombard &■ Caustic, 341. 
Powell & Co., 341. 

C. H. Taylor & Co., 341. 

Louis F. Weston, 34 1. 

Edward W. Wheeler, 341. 
Publishing. 

Ginn & Co., 337-339. 

Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 334-336. 
Pumps. 

Geo. F. Blake Manufacturing Co., 
353. 

Rubber Goods. 

American Rubber Co., 381. 

Shoe Blacking and Metal Polish. 

W. W. Reid Manufacturing Co., 395. 
Soap. 

Carr Brothers, 362. 

Curtis Davis & Co., 358. 

James C. Davis & Co., 359. 

C. L. Jones & Co., 361. 

Lvsander Kemp & Sons, 360. 

Charles R. Teele, 362. 
Spring-Beds. 

Howe Spring-Bed Co., 393. 

New England Spring-Bed Co., 392. 



424 



INDEX TO MANUFACTURES. 



Stone Work. 

William A. Bertsch, 389. 

Charles Kiver (Stone Co., 389. 

Connecticut Steam Stone Co. , 389. 

Austin Ford & Son. 389. 

A. Higgins & Co., 389. 

John J. Horgan, 389. 

Alexander McDonald & Son, 388. 

R. J. Rutherford, 389. 

Union Marble and Granite Works, 
389. 
Sugar. 

Revere Sugar Refinery, 394. 

Telescopes. 

Alvan Clark & Sons, 379. 
Tin Cans. 

Charles E. Pierce & Co., 393. 



Tinware. 

Dover Stamping Co., 389. 

Seavey Manufacturing Co., 390. 
Turning. 

Standard Turning Works, 390. 
Twine. 

American Net and Twine Co., 377. 

Undertakers' Supplies. 

William L. Lockhart & Co., 390. 

Vinegar. 

Cambridge Vinegar Co., 395. 

Waterproofed Clothing. 

H. M. Sawyer & Son, 391. 
Wire Work. 

Morss & Whyte, 351. 



